


Monsters

by sinistercinnamon



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Awesome Jane Foster, BAMF Jane Foster, Darcy Lewis's iPod, Dark Thor, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Infanticide, Internalized racism, Loki Angst, Loki Gets a Hug, Loki Needs a Hug, Loki's Kids, Odin's Bad Parenting, Odin's Terrible Grandparenting, Protective Jane Foster, cuteness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-25
Updated: 2018-02-03
Packaged: 2018-05-29 01:49:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 38,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6354067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sinistercinnamon/pseuds/sinistercinnamon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i><a href="http://www.worldconquer.org/evil_overlord.html">Evil Overlord List</a>, no. 12: One of my advisors will be an average five-year-old child. Any flaws in my plan that he is able to spot will be corrected before implementation.</i>
</p><p>After finding out what he really is, so much of Loki's life suddenly makes sense. Like why his children were snatched from him without him even getting to see them. Fortunately, Odin hadn't found out about all his kids, & he'd been able to save Hel. And now Odin sleeps & Thor is banished, he can at last bring her to the palace, a princess of Asgard, while hatching his fiendish plan to prove himself to Odin & to Asgard. Of course, little Hel has her own ideas about the wisdom of these plans... Lokane.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic started out as a simple 'Loki's kids exist & Odin had them killed to hide their Jotun heritage, but he manages to hide Hel, who ends up on Earth after Loki's fall from the Bifrost, is found by Jane, & Lokane happens when Loki shows up & they bond over trying to figure out how to look after a kid.' fic with all the movie events happening as normal & not much else different.
> 
> But the setting up required me to have her present during the events of 'Thor', & what should have been a brief bit of backstory threw a massive spanner in the works of the movie plot, because so much of 'Thor' depends on Loki making increasingly poor decisions as a result of being too pissed off to think straight & having someone there going 'But WHY?' & generally distracting him is going to bring some much-needed perspective. Also it's hard to find the time to send a deathbot after your brother when there's a small child demanding a story.

_~prologue~_

Loki is happy. He has sorted the diplomatic situation the Allfather had dispatched him to deal with, coming up with a solution that benefited all parties. The timing was inconvenient, but he is pleased that his father has trusted him with such a delicate task and hopeful that this marks a turning point in how he is seen by the court.

Instead of heading straight for the throne room, where he knows his father is holding court, he makes his way toward Dalla's chambers. He is eager to see his child. Normally he is careful enough to prevent such things, but on one occasion he had forgotten himself and failed to cast the necessary spell, and mindful of his responsibilities as a prince of the realm, had offered his support to the woman in question. Neither of them desire any kind of long term arrangement, and he cannot publicly acknowledge the child - as a bastard, it would have no real standing, but he intends to do what he can for his child (his child!).

His brother steps out of a side passage, and his sad expression brings Loki up short. Something is wrong.

"Brother, I am so sorry..." He tells Loki what has happened. The child is a monster, deformed and hideous; Odin had to put it out of its misery. Dalla has left the court for her family's estates on the edge of Asgard, and she does not wish to see him.

Loki nods, giving no outward reaction, and goes to his chambers to write a report of the negotiations to send to his father; he does not think he can face the court right now.

It is for the best though, he tells himself. There will be other children.

~~~~~

His father has continued to give him diplomatic errands, but he gets no recognition for them. For all that the Allfather preaches peace, he seems more inclined to indulge those who court war than those who try to prevent it.

He is more careful when lying with women, not wanting to risk the same pain again. But everyone makes mistakes. He finds himself wondering, later, if it had been deliberate. He had been so in love with her, and thought his feelings were returned, so finding out, through an accidentally-overheard conversation between her and a friend, that she saw him only as a means to an end to get the attention of Thor, well... Perhaps, subconsciously, he had sought to get her with child so she would be 'ruined' for his golden brother. Or perhaps that's his wounded pride speaking, determined that he should have vengeance.

However it happened, it has. He returns from yet another mission to his father's disapproving face. It's worse, this time. He so wants to impress his father, but fails at every turn, and has yet to understand why.

A feeling of numbness washes over him, and all he can do is stand there silently as Odin lectures him about fathering bastards (as if Thor is so careful as he is - he is certain half the blond-haired and blue-eyed children running around Yggdrasil are his nephews and nieces).

It doesn't even give him any pleasure to learn that the woman killed herself afterwards. If he had sought to ruin her, he has succeeded, as he ruins everything he touches.

His heart leaps ever so slightly when Odin claps him on the shoulder, and a small thread of anger, buried deep, uncoils within him, raging at his pathetic desire to please someone who never seems to be happy with him.

He pushes it down, using all the diplomatic training he has, and calmly gives his report of the meeting he attended.

He emerges to find Thor and his friends loitering outside.

"Another monster, Loki?" calls out Fandral. "Perhaps the universe is trying to tell you something!" The others laugh.

"Do not worry, brother! It is I who will be expected to produce heirs, after all! You should not trouble yourself."

He says nothing, and goes to his chambers, where he drinks until he can briefly forget the look of disappointment on his father's face. He considers going to his mother, but all she could offer last time was empty words, and this would be no different. Besides, what real warrior would run crying to his mother for his own failures?

He falls asleep with the jeering laughter of his so-called friends echoing in his ears.

~~~~~

Forgetting protection is not an issue after that. Word has got around, and no woman will approach him.

Thor happily fosters this state of affairs to eliminate competition, intercepting any woman who approaches him even to chat with lurid tales of monsters clawing their way out of her womb.

There are those in isolated areas in other realms, who are not aware, but it seems humiliating to go to such lengths for a mere tumble in the sheets.

~~~~~

There is a new servant girl in the palace. Of course, there are new servants all the time, presumably, but he doesn't usually notice. He notices this one. Blonde hair so pale as to be almost white, in wild curls that constantly attempt to escape its bindings. Creamy skin with a fetching rose blush on her cheeks. Curvaceous, with a large bosom. Icy blue eyes the colour of a mountain lake. Her name is Sigyn.

She must surely have sensed his interest, but does not shy away from him. Engaging her in conversation, he soon learns why: she is an orphan, with no family to terrify her with horror stories of the cursed second prince, cloistered in an orphanage and ignorant of gossip that is considered such old news by palace staff they do not trouble to repeat it.

He will be careful, this time.

~~~~~

So much for being careful. Over-eager after going so long without, and feeling the effects of the alcohol they have both drunk, he is hasty in applying the spell, and fails to work it properly.

~~~~~

When she tells him she is pregnant, he suggests getting rid of it, unable to bear going through more pain, but she shakes her head, horrified. He thinks of telling her, but cannot stand the thought of her looking at him in revulsion. He lets her think that he wishes to avoid gossip, and fears how the child will be mistreated at court (not only illegitimate, but of the lower classes - how the gossips would crow!).

He makes plans to send her away. He purchases a small house outside the city, being careful to use a false name, wear an illusion spell and work through an intermediary. He arranges a generous monthly stipend through yet another false name and via a complex network of go-betweens. He hides the place from Heimdall's gaze and wards it against scrying (even his - he will not risk loopholes).

He feels a small flash of guilt occasionally about hiding his past. But if she is determined to keep it, those tales will only frighten her and might affect the child. And if he is fully capable of fathering normal children and his previous offspring were unfortunate aberrations, then telling her will frighten her for nothing.

Of course, if may prove that he can only sire monsters and this child will be yet another, but she will only find this after the babe is born, and she has looked upon it and held it.

And what parent would abandon a newborn baby?

~~~~~

The child - a daughter - is a monster. A half-dead thing. An abomination.

He wishes to see it anyway, but fears leading Odin to it. Sigyn agrees, advising him to stay away and continue sending money for the child's upkeep, sending occasional messages to tell him the child is well. He sends messages asking her to tell little Hel that her father loves her very very much. He considers visiting in order to lay an illusion spell upon the child, but you cannot place such an enchantment upon an unwilling recipient, and infants do not understand the need for subterfuge. The risk of exposure is too great. Better for now to keep her hidden. When he is sure there is no chance of being detected, he sends packages of toys, and carefully handwritten stories he composes just for her.

He has never found Thor's friends to be good company, but they are now intolerable. He fiercely resents seeing Volstagg enjoying the company of his children, and Thor laughing at their antics, treating them as if they were part of his family, when he has a niece who will never get the same treatment.

He tries to console himself. Better that she is alive but separated from him, than he should get to see her for but a minute before she is torn from his arms and killed. He has harmed her enough by passing on whatever curse he bears.

And she is surely having a happy life, living in a nice house with her loving mother, frolicking in the country air, playing with the toys he sends and listening to her mother read his stories, avoiding the backbiting of court life. Yes, he is being selfish by wanting her at his side. 

It occurs to him she might be lonely - out there in the countryside with only her mother for company, and not being able to play with any other children because of her looks. Perhaps a pet of some kind? He decides to suggest the idea to Sigyn. Maybe when the child is a little older?

~~~~~

Loki glares at his father - only, not his father, is he? - looking lost and unsure what to do now that Loki has seen through his charade. This explains so much, why he was never considered as good as Thor, why he was never considered to be a serious candidate for the throne, why he didn't belong.

Why his children were killed.

Was Odin so determined to keep his lie going that he was willing to kill infants, even though it was that that necessitated the lie in the first place? Maybe he regretted letting one monster live.

Despite his rage, he still feels concern when his father - NOT father! - collapses, and calls for the guards. He still follows, hands twisting with worry, as he is brought to his bed and laid out to sleep.

He is shocked out of his daze by guards marching in. Fearing he's been found out, he freezes, but they hand him Gungnir and bow with a respect he is not used to receiving. His brain struggles to process what is happening. He has become so used to being dismissed and forgotten that it takes his mother's gentle reminder to understand that, despite everything, he is still in the succession, and is therefore now the king. It should probably sting more that he is only so by process of elimination, but it is not as it was something he ever really wanted.

He is almost dizzy with all the possibilities afforded to him with ultimate power, and still reeling from learning his life is a lie, that he is a child of monsters-

Another possibility hits him. He is king now. There is no Odin to tear his daughter from his arms, no Thor to sneer and mock. He can bring his daughter to where she belongs, at his side! And those who sneered at his monster children will have to wait upon her hand and foot and address her as Princess.

Eventually, Odin will wake, and Thor will be forgiven, as he always is. But Loki doesn't _care_. He will take the opportunity while it is offered to bond with his child, and be the father he never had. And he will prove himself worthy, so that when Odin wakes, he will surely see that not only was he wrong in dismissing Loki as second best, but that Hel should be allowed to live.

He slips back to his rooms to collect his latest gift for her: a beautiful shimmery gold dress. Just because she has to remain hidden, doesn't mean she cannot look pretty. He'd had to guess at her size, but it is a loose style that wraps around the body, in imitation of the draped dresses beloved of ladies of the court, so there is some leeway.

A flick of his hand, and he is outside the house he set Sigyn up 5 years ago. He knocks on the door. No answer. He tries again. Eventually he shrugs. It is a nice afternoon; they have probably gone out for a walk. He will sit inside and wait for them to return.

He flits inside and looks around. His first impression is that it is decorated rather lavishly for a small house in the woods, but perhaps Sigyn wished to give Hel some taste of being the princess she was, and it was clean and well-kept. A horrible noise fills his hearing, from behind him. He turns around to see Sigyn, slumped in an armchair, her mouth wide open, snoring loudly. A goblet of wine lies on its side under her dangling hand, its contents staining the floor (several empty bottles are nearby, indicating this was far from her first drink), and she and the chair are covered in crumbs, presumably from the sweets and cakes piled onto a plate on the nearby table.

He frowns. He cannot abide sloppiness, and he hates to think of his daughter being raised around such displays. He is tempted to shake her awake but decides against it. He is impatient to meet his daughter, and does not wish to waste time dealing with a drunkard - there will be time for that later.

The small kitchen is tidy and all in order as far as he can tell, his only experiences of cookery being the palace kitchens, which are a constant maelstrom of chaos, and campfire food, which is simple and requires little preparation.

As he explores the house, he is unable to shake a feeling of wrongness. At first he cannot place why. Then it hits him. There is no sign a child lives here. Volstagg's house near the palace is virtually a monument to his family, filled with portraits of his brood, pictures drawn by them festooning every vertical surface, toys and books scattered about. Still, it is necessary to keep Hel hidden, and neighbours might get suspicious if they dropped by unexpectedly and found evidence of a child no-one ever saw.

Her bedroom is even more lavish than that of his own parents, and he shakes his head at her terrible taste. The bathing chamber is even worse - he has been in high class brothels on Vanaheim with less luxurious bathing facilities. He feels another flash of irritation. He had sent her enough money to live well while raising their daughter, but not this well. How is she even financing this lifestyle?

He opens the door to the smaller bedroom and finds nothing but old furniture, boxes, a pile of items that looked to be midwinter celebration decorations, and other such sundries. A storeroom.

The irritation turns to worry, then to fear. _Where is my daughter?_

Pausing in the hallway before storming downstairs, he hears a noise from the sitting room. _So, she's awake, hmm?_

He makes sure to be quiet heading down the stairs. He wants her to feel the full force of his rage with no warning and no time to invent excuses. 

But when he stalks into the room she is still slumped in the chair, although she has ceased snoring.

Kneeling by the chair, frozen in her attempt at scrubbing the wine stain, is a small girl of about 5 years, thin and starved-looking. Her lank, tangled hair is long and black and slightly wavy in the same way his goes when he lets it grow long. Her eyes are red except for the pupils, just like a Jotun. Her skin is the pale white of something dead, and one side of her body has rotted away to bone, giving him a glimpse of sharp teeth through a hole in her cheek. There can be no doubt as to who she is.

"Hel."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: If there are any Sigyn fans - sorry. I made her a horrible person. Hel needed someone to give birth to & raise her, & it made sense to use someone associated with Loki.

Mother had been in a bad mood all day. Even more of a bad mood than usual anyway. 

It was something to do with Thor. Hel knew Thor was a prince, and her father was also a prince. She'd asked her mother once if that meant she was a princess, and her mother had struck her across the face and snapped that she was a monster, and monsters couldn't be princesses. Mother talked about him a lot, how she should have gone after him instead of his brother, and how if she'd have done that she wouldn't be living in the middle of nowhere with only a monster for company. Then she would call Hel's father mean names, which seemed unfair to Hel, as she knew he sent her mother money, and she knew their house was much nicer than other people's and mother always had plenty to eat and drink. She asked mother if father ever sent her anything, and mother said no. Hel knew she was lying though. She always knew when people were lying. She wondered what he sent her. She knew there were letters, because she'd found one of them once. She couldn't read, but she kept it anyway, because it was from him and it was all she had. She could see her name was written in it several times - she recognised the shape of the letters - and there was a picture of a bird drawn at the bottom. It was a really good drawing, and it was magic! When she touched it, it sang just like a real bird. She liked to listen to its singing when she was really sad. Like today.

Today was Thor's "big day", whatever that meant. Mother had started drinking as soon as she’d woken up, complaining aloud to herself (well, she might have been complaining to Hel, but Hel didn't understand most of what she was saying) any time her mouth wasn't filled with wine or sweets.

Mother sometimes hit her when she was in this bad a mood, so she retreated to the alcove in a corner of the basement, where she slept, and listened to the paper bird singing until she was sure mother was sleeping.

Creeping back into the sitting room, she found her mother asleep. There were still plenty of sweets left, and her empty stomach rumbled. But mother had found her out once, and the beating she'd received was the worst she'd ever had.

She looked at the spilled wine, and thought she'd better clean it up. Mother always blamed mess and spills on her, even when it was obvious she couldn't have done it. She picked up the goblet and put it on the table, avoiding looking at the food. She fetched the cleaning tools and began to scrub. 

She was startled by a strange man suddenly coming into the room, carrying a golden spear. He seemed surprised to see her, and they stared at each other until her said her name, quietly, as if he couldn't believe she was real.

"You know me?" That couldn't be right. Nobody knew about her other than her mother. And her father of course. Oh! Her eyes widened.

He smiled at her. "I am your father, little one."

He knelt down on the floor in front of her, leaving the spear standing up all on its own, and put his arms round her. She'd seen pictures in books of this and it had looked nice, somehow. It felt nice too.

"I am sorry," he said. He voice was muffled by her hair, but she could hear him. She wanted to ask what for, but her throat wouldn't work. "I thought I was keeping you safe."

She couldn’t think of anything to say, so she just hugged him back. Would he be disappointed that she couldn’t find words? Mother had said he was smart and good at words; would he think she was stupid? She hugged him even harder, scared that she might not be good enough, just like she wasn’t good enough to make mother happy.

Then he decided she needed a bath, but instead of sending her to the kitchen and handing her a sponge and telling her to wash herself from the sink, he took her upstairs and filled the bathtub with warm water and nice smelling bubbles. She told him she wasn't allowed, but he got a funny look on his face, and told her she was allowed, and he would be having words with her mother.

He bathed her and washed her hair and told her all about why she was here. He told her about his father, and how his father had had any children of his killed because they were monsters, and about his brother Thor who had laughed even though that wasn't funny at all. He told her how he'd sent her mother away before she was born, so his father wouldn't find her and kill her too, and that he'd been too scared to visit in case he was followed. He told her he'd sent her letters, and toys, and things he thought she might like. he told her he was sorry for not checking she was being looked after. But now things were different, and he had come to bring her home, where she belonged. He told her about how Thor had gotten in big trouble, and been sent away, and how he had found out he was a monster, and how everything he though he knew had been a lie. He told her that his father had fallen ill and no-one knew when he'd get better, and so there was nobody to stop him bringing his daughter home.

She told him how she liked playing in the fields near the house, and watching animals in the woods, and peeking through hedges to see other children playing, though she knew they’d never let her, and would run away if they saw her. And how she liked drawing pictured on any scraps of paper she could get hold of.

After she was clean, he dried her with the soft, warm towel, looking curiously at the bits of her that were bone.

Her right side looked normal. If she stood partway behind a wall (and shut her eyes to hide the colour), someone looking at her would think she was a normal girl. But as soon as they got close enough to see behind the wall, they would see the rest of her was all wrong and run away. Her left side was dead. All rotted grey flesh and bones, and there was no hair on her head on that side, just a few wisps. It wasn't totally straight down the middle. Her body was mostly normal, with some grey, dead flesh down the left side, and a few holes where ribs and part of her hipbone showed through, her left leg was withered grey flesh stretched over the bones, her left arm was mostly bone, with a few scraps of grey flesh at the shoulder, and her face was split right down the middle, withered flesh on one side, normal on the other, with a few patches of skull visible round the side.

It was really hard to smile. She could move the dead flesh, but it was harder. She practiced in the mirror sometimes and had mostly got it, but it still looked lopsided. She couldn't properly close her mouth on that side either, and you could always see her sharp monster teeth.

There were a couple of faded bruises on her body. His face darkened slightly at those, but he said nothing.

He ran a finger along the bones of her left forearm. "How are you able to move this without muscle? And how do you not get all sorts of infections with your insides open to the air?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. Mother says I'm an abomination."

His face darkens at that. "You are most certainly not." He looked back down at the dead white bone under his hand and lifted an eyebrow. "You are certainly impossible though."

She felt a wave of fear. "Is that bad?"

She couldn't keep her voice level, and he grabbed her normal arm too and held them together in reassurance.

"Goodness no! No, my dear! I love impossible things." He grinned at her. "I'm rather impossible myself, or so people tell me."

She smiled back at him, relieved.

"Now, time to get dressed."

She moved to pick up her discarded rags, but her stopped her. "Ah no! I have brought you a present!"

A present! She'd never had a present before. Except for the bird letter, which wasn't really a present. He moved his hands, and a gold-coloured bundle appeared between them. He let it fall open and there was the most beautiful dress she'd ever seen. She stood still as he pulled it over her head and arranged it so it hung properly, scared she'd damage it if she moved suddenly.

"Now, shoes. Hmm..."

Taking her hand and led her into her mother's bedroom, he sat her on the chair in front of the dressing table, then opened the wardrobe and dug through all the shoes until he found a pretty gold pair. Kneeling down in front of her, he placed them on her feet. She was about to tell him they were way too big for her, when they suddenly shrank until they fit her feet perfectly. She wriggled her toes in them happily. She'd never had shoes before.

Her father stood up, picked a brush up from the dressing table, and began to brush her hair. Properly clean, her hair was thick enough that it made up for only having half a head of hair, and so soft, and he arranged it so it covered the bald side of her scalp. Digging around in the jewellery box for a few seconds, he fished out a selection of hair clips.

"Which one would you like?"

She wasn't really allowed to even look inside the jewellery box, and mother would be angry. But father had picked them out, and if he said it was alright, then it was alright. Thinking for a few moments, she pointed to a gold clip with a purple flower worked in amethysts. She'd always liked it, and mother never wore it. He brushed all her hair over so that it covered her bare scalp, and then clipped it so it wouldn't fall back.

Her father led her over to the tall mirror and she looked at herself. She looked so different! The dress went almost to her ankles, and had long sleeves, and with the way her hair was styled to cover the bald half, only her face, hand, and ankle gave away the truth.

"I look almost pretty!" she exclaimed. "Like a princess!"

He sank to his knees beside her, looking sad. "My dear, you are pretty - there is no almost about it. And you most certainly are a princess!"

He was telling the truth, but she didn't understand. "But, father, look at me. I'm a monster." She waved a hand at her left side.

He turned her to face him and looked her dead in the eye. "I am looking at you, and I am telling you that you are indeed pretty, and you are most definitely a princess. Anyone who tells you otherwise is just plain wrong."

"Even though I'm a monster?"

"Even though you're a monster." His voice went a bit funny saying that, but he was still telling the truth.

"Are you a monster too?" She wasn't really sure why she asked, but mother didn't look like a monster, and probably wouldn't be as angry at Hel being a monster if she was, and she seemed to blame father for everything.

He froze, and she wanted to say sorry, but her throat stopped working again. She thought maybe his wasn't working either, because he had to swallow a few times before he answered, and his voice was really quiet.

"Yes."

She peered at him as if she would suddenly be able to see what was so monstrous, but he looked normal to her.

"I will show you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone."

She nodded. He sat very still for a moment and she was about to ask what was going on, when she saw blue spreading over his skin. When he opened his eyes again, they were the same red as hers. She'd never seen anybody with eyes like hers. She ran her fingers along one of the markings on his arm, where he'd pulled up his sleeve so as not to get his clothes wet while bathing her. His skin was as cold as hers.

He held her against him, and told her more things then. About how he had always felt different and been treated differently than his brother but never understood why, had thought he was normal but didn't feel like he truly belonged, had been told that monsters were bad but not that he was one. About how he had only just today found out he was a monster, and had been left alone to accept it with no real explanation about _why_.

"I cannot show myself like this," he told her, indicating his blue skin and red eyes. "I have been told all my life that it is wrong and bad and this feels wrong to me. It does not feel like myself. What is more, people have always treated me different and I am not well-liked, and if they find out about me they may use that as an excuse to kill me. They will see a Jotun on the throne as a threat to be eradicated."

He seemed to catch sight of himself in the mirror, and turned to look, lifting a hand up to touch his own cheek. It was as if he was checking to see if it was really him. He shuddered, and looked away and down for a moment, before straightening to look back at her and continuing. He tilted his head and looked at her like he was happy and sad at the same time. "However. I will not hide how you look. It is not as if people do not know I sire monsters, and I do not wish you to think you should have to hide yourself to be accepted. People will have to accept you as you are, and damn the consequence."

She smiled back up at him, and he smiled back.

"Now, do you have anything you wish to take with you?"

She nodded, taking his hand and leading him down the stairs and to the cellar door beneath them. "I sleep down here. Mother says monsters belong underground in the dark."

His face goes all funny again, but he says nothing, just opens the door and follows her down the steps. She's so used to the cellar it doesn't bother her there's no light to see by other than the candle stubs she salvages from the rubbish to put by her bed so she can look at her treasures and maybe draw things if she can find materials, because she knows it all by heart, so it's a surprise when light fills the room, cast by a ball of magical light that he's summoned.

She shows him the corner where her bed is. It's a few scraps of old blanket, covering a pile of old cushions, but she's done her best to make it look nice. She's surrounded it with little jars containing candle stubs, and an old jug (thrown away because of a broken handle) is filled with a bunch of flowers. A beautiful old gauzy scarf in a deep shade of purple with shiny gold trim that her mother threw out because of a hole in it has been draped across the alcove as a canopy. A small collection of interesting finds and keepsakes are clustered on a support beam next to the bed - a pine cone, some pretty rocks, a large black feather that shimmers lovely colours, a tin that had originally contained sweets for her mother which had lovely pictures of flowers on the sides, some of her pictures, and her most precious possession: her father's letter.

She picked it up. "This. I want to take this."

He looked at it. "I wrote that for you over a year ago. You kept it?"

"I found it. Mother tore up most of them, but she forgot this one and just threw it straight away. I can't read it, but I like listening to the bird. It makes me happy." She reached out and ran her fingers across the drawing, and smiled at the happy chirping.

"Do you want me to read it for you?"

She nodded excitedly, and he sat down on the bed, pulling her down onto his lap, and began to read. The letter was about how he loved her very much and wished he could see her, and hoped she was happy. There was a funny story about a dog chasing a cat around the palace and somehow managing to chase it into Uncle Thor’s rooms, creating a huge mess, and a silly poem. Then he made the bird sing again, and handed it back to her. She tucked it into a fold in her dress that was just right to hold it.

"Is there nothing else you would like to bring?" He plucked the scarf from its hangings. "What about this? It would look lovely."

It did, and the material with light and floaty and rippled with any movement of the air, but it was no good with her nice new dress. "It's torn. That's why mother threw it out."

"She is extremely wasteful - it can easily be fixed. See?" Before her eyes, the rip got smaller and smaller, until it vanished. "There! And it matches your hairclip too."

He draped it around her neck, smiling down at her, and she smiled back, as best she could.

"Now," he said, taking her hand and helping her to her feet. "I think it is time I had some words with your mother."

Just as they got upstairs though, her stomach began rumbling. She grabbed herself, embarrassed. Her mother did not like any reminders that Hel might need anything at all, complaining that she cost so much to feed, even though she hardly ever ate anything.

Her father chuckled though, amused instead of angry. "Hungry, hmm? Let us see to that first."

Leading her into the kitchen, he began looking through cupboards. "What do you normally like to eat?"

"I don't know."

"How do you not- Ah, let me guess, your mother feels that monsters do not deserve proper feeding?"

She could only nod - her throat had stopped working again.

"And when did you last eat?"

"This morning."

He looked out the window, checking the position of the sun. "Something simple then." He helped her into a chair and sat down next to her. He waved his hands, and an apple appeared between them, as gold as the dress. Pulling a knife from his clothing he began to slice the apple into small pieces, handing her a bit at a time. He filled a glass with water and handed it to her, advising her to drink slowly.

"I'll get you something proper to eat once we're at the palace, but I don't want to upset your stomach right now filling it with rich food."

They sat for a moment while she drank her water, and when she was done he stood up and helped her down from the chair. She could hear her mother snoring from the sitting room again. Her father looked at a bucket hanging from a hook nearby and grinned. Taking it to the tap, he filled it with water, then he turned himself cold and blue again, and dipped his hand into the water. Going pale again, he picked up the bucket and walked over to the sitting room, curious, she followed. Was he going to finish cleaning the wine stain? Why make the water cold for that?

He was not. Standing over her mother, he hurled the bucket of icy water all over her. She awoke instantly, shrieking like a scalded cat.

"You little wretch!" She screeched, wiping water from her eyes. "How dare you, after all I've done for y-"

Blinking away the water, she saw who was standing over her and her words cut off. She stammered.

"I will save you the effort of coming up with excuses. Due to a rather interesting series of events I am now king. I have come to make use of my newfound power to see my daughter and bring her home, and I am not happy with what I find. Our arrangement is at an end and you will receive no further contact or payment from me. Goodbye."

He grabbed the golden spear from where it was still standing by itself, with one hand, and took Hel's hand with the other (the left one - she liked that he was happy to hold her bone hand), and led her from the house, through the garden and out the gate. They had just made it out and into the lane, when mother came running out after them, throwing herself into the dusty road.

"Please! I am begging you! Give me another chance! I was angry and lonely out here! I maybe went a little overboard with discipline, but it was for her own good, I swear!"

"She's lying, father," Hel warned him, tugging on his sleeve desperately, scared he might believe her and let her come with them.

"I know, my dear." He smiled down at her, reassuringly. Then turned back to mother. "You have had chances and used them ill. Be grateful that I do not demand reimbursement for the money and gifts you squandered. Fear not, I shall at least allow you to keep whatever remains."

Her mother looked up, confused. "Whatever remains from what?" Father pointed with the golden spear, and a jet of light shot out and into the open door of the house. A fire started in the hallway. Mother jumped to her feet and ran back toward the house, but the downstairs was very quickly engulfed and she was beaten back and only able to watch.

Then everything faded from view and she suddenly found herself in a grand entrance hall with walls covered in gold, her mother's shrieks of rage echoing in her ears. She looked around in awe. There was so much gold. It almost made her dress look plain.

"What is this place?"

"Your new home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any resemblance to a certain AoA character is purely coincidental. I had an idea for a fic where Loki had a daughter & thought it'd be a nice contrast for her to have truth-sensing ability (plus hilarious as he can't lie to her & can't dodge awkward & embarrassing questions ;P), but the fic never ended up happening, & in the meantime the bastards stole my idea! Damn them! ;P


	3. Chapter 3

Loki was angry, though he tried to hide it from his daughter. He'd been taken for a fool, and the very person he'd sought to protect had suffered for it.

He led her into the palace and through the corridors, ignoring the quick flashes of surprise that flickered across the faces of the guards before being schooled into their usual passivity. It probably wasn't wise to let her go undisguised, but the look on her face as she'd called herself a monster broke his heart.

Besides, if he did disguise her and then persuade Odin and Asgard to accept her, and then revealed the truth, they would howl in outrage and say they'd been tricked, and their wrath would fall upon her all the greater. And even should he overcome that, they would surely insist on covering up her supposed deformities. If he hid her, he would not be able to go back.

It would be a good idea to set an illusion spell at some point though, and teach her how to turn it on and off, just because there were times when she might want to escape notice for some reason.

She stumbled and just managed to catch herself before she tripped, and looking down at her face he realised she was tired. He felt terrible. She'd barely eaten all day, had been ill-treated all her short life, and seemed to have some trouble with moving her left side, and here he was dragging her around the long corridors of the palace and expecting her to match his pace. Really, he should have magicked them there, but he wanted her to see the wonders of the palace, and a small part of him wanted the palace to see _her_.

"My darling, why didn't you tell me that I was walking too fast?" He picked her up, sickened by how light she was. She'd done well enough keeping up with his strides, especially with her leg, though he wished it was merely youthful determination that drove her, rather than fear; he would have to do everything he could to convince her that he would not be angry if she couldn't do something.

Reaching their destination at last, he pushed open the door and entered the healing hall. Eir looked up from some paperwork, pursing her lips in disapproval when she caught sight of them. Though with Eir, it was hard to tell if her reaction was to Hel, himself, or that she resented being interrupted in the study of healing in order to deal with something so inconvenient as a patient.

"This is my daughter, Hel. I wish for you to examine her." He walks forward and lays her on one of the healing couches.

Eir approaches, waving forward her attendants. "I assume you wish for a report on her... condition?"

"That, and... her caretaker did a very poor job. She has been starved and beaten and I wish to know the full extent of that, so I may do what I can to improve her health and wellbeing."

Eir nodded, and waved her hands at her attendants, who jumped forward obediently.

Hel lay quietly in the soul forge, looking curiously up at the model of her floating above, as the healers worked.

"I cannot tell you how she is able to move, or how there is no sign of infection with her insides open to the air. It does not seem to be magic in the sense that there is a spell that has been placed which could be broken at any moment. More, it seems that it is built into her; she is her own magic."

"I'm magic, father?"

"You are indeed. Didn't I tell you that you were special?"

She smiled up at him. He vowed that he would kill anyone who laid a hand on her.

Eir continued her report. "As for her general health, it is hard to give an accurate diagnosis, with half of her being effectively dead, yet not at the same time, but she is malnourished. Feed her simple fare at first, before working your way up to anything particularly rich or sweet. Aside from a few bruises, there do not seem to be any injuries."

"Thank you."

He bent to lift Hel off the table, and the woman leaned forward and spoke to him in a voice too low for the other healers to hear, "Are you sure you know what you are doing here?"

Not expecting the question, the honest response jumped out of his lips unbidden. "No."

He picked up Hel, grabbed Gungnir, and hastened out as fast as he could while trying not to look as if he was fleeing.

~~~~~

He stopped a servant, and requested a small selection of clothing and shoes be brought to his chambers, for Hel. This one was well-trained - only a slight widening of the eyes before she nodded and scurried off.

"Now to get you a proper meal," he told his daughter. Sick of carrying Gungnir around, he banished it to his pocket dimension, so he could use both arms to carry her. Word should have filtered out that he was king by now.

The feast hall was usually busy at all hours, but most had gorged themselves on the food prepared for Thor's aborted coronation, and the place was all but empty except for a slumbering warrior in a far corner, and Thor's friends, having a lively discussion at the high table. He waved over a servant and requested a small bowl of stew, some honey cake, and a cup of grape juice for Hel, and a plate of bread and fish and a goblet of wine for himself, and was about to call their attention and greet them, when he heard his name. Spoken in a suspicious tone. His eyes narrowed.

Pressing a finger to his lips to warn Hel of the need to be silent, he cast an invisibility spell on them both and tip-toed closer (though they were so busy in their discussion a charging bilgesnipe would take them by surprise).

"We can't just march into the throne room and declare Loki a traitor without proof!" Fandral was saying. "All we have is a vague accusation by Asgard's sworn enemy, and him having the magical ability."

Sif banged the table in frustration - it appeared this discussion had been going on for some time with no resolution. "He did it! I am certain of it!"

So quick to judge him! Such friendship! Admittedly they were right, but Fandral's assertion that their suspicion was based on flimsy evidence was well-made. They believed _Laufey's_ word over his?

It wasn't even as if he had betrayed Asgard! It was just meant to create a disturbance that interrupted the ceremony, and Thor's expected tantrum and attempt to enter Jotunheim would demonstrate his unreadiness and ensure that it would be postponed for the time being at least. Loki had never expected that Heimdall would just let them pass, or that that guard would be so slow in his duties, or that Odin's reaction would be so extreme after a lifetime of letting Thor off lightly. He certainly never expected Odin to collapse and leave him to deal with everything.

Volstagg, easy-going as ever, attempted a compromise. "Whatever the truth is, we do have a duty to report our suspicions, even if they turn out to be false."

"How?" Sif all but snarled. "The Allfather is nowhere to be seen!"

Hogun spoke up at last. "It is said he has been taken ill."

"With what?"

Hogun shrugged. "I did not hear that."

"So who is king?"

Deciding he had heard enough, Loki dropped the illusion spell and sauntered past them to sit in the high seat normally occupied by Odin. He would have preferred to sit in his usual seat, but felt he needed to make a point. He perched Hel on his knee.

"That would be me. I know people tend to forget, but I am a prince of Asgard also, and in the line of succession, much as I'm sure some would prefer otherwise." He grinned at them. _Mock me now, I dare you._

There was an awkward silence as they all looked guiltily at each other, hoping he hadn't heard them discussing him.

The silence was broken by Hel, who leant up towards his ear and said, in what she thought was a whisper, but she did not have the trick of it, and her voice was loud in the silence and echoed in the cavernous room, "Father, that lady is a warrior. Can girls be warriors too?"

Forgetting them in favour of his daughter. "They most certainly can, my dear."

"Can I be a warrior when I grow up?"

"My darling, you can be whatever you want to be."

She smiled up at him.

"And who is this?" asked Volstagg.

"This is my daughter, Hel." He beamed proudly at them, daring them to say anything.

"I didn't know you had a daughter."

"Yes," he drawled. "That is how she is alive." The servant stopped by with their food and drinks, and then ran off again, sensing danger. He blithely ignored the horrified looks his so-called friends were throwing him, and handed Hel a spoon.

"What do you mean by bringing her here? What does the Allfather say about this?"

He ignored them for a few moments, tucking into his own food and checking that Hel was managing alright. She was eating with every appearance of delight. "Father has fallen into the Odinsleep, and it seems more serious than usual; mother does not know if he will wake and refuses to leave his bedside. With Thor banished, the throne has fallen to me. I have taken the opportunity to bring my daughter to me, that I may spend some time with her."

"But look at her!"

"Yes, lovely isn't she?" Deliberately misunderstanding.

"She's-" Whatever Fandral was about to say, was cut off suddenly, no doubt as a result of a warning kick under the table from someone much smarter. Fortunately, Hel was occupied with her stew, and did not seem to pick up on what was going on - or so he hoped.

"If you are king, then you can rescind Thor's banishment - bring your brother home!" Sif demanded in what she presumably thought was a pleading tone, rather than demanding.

"No."

"But-"

_"No."_

"But we need him!"

"You four might, but Asgard does not. I will not countermand Odin's last command. He had his reasons for what he did, and I will not go against them without good reason, especially as that is what got Thor banished in the first place. Hopefully this will be good for him. It is not as if he suffers. Heimdall would inform me in an instant if the oaf was in danger." Probably. Maybe. Heimdall did not like him very much, and his thoughts were such a mystery, who knew what he considered genuine peril, or if he would warn even Odin if there was. But if it would shut the idiots up...

"Very well. If you'll excuse us." Sif rose to her feet, bowed the exact amount that protocol demanded and not a fraction of an inch more, and marched out. The others followed, Volstagg giving a lingering look at the food left behind on his plate as he went.

Loki did not linger. As soon as he and Hel were both finished, he rose to his feet again, picking her up (some would accuse him of coddling her, but she surely deserved a bit of coddling). She had spilled some food down her dress, but he had woven spells throughout the fabric, so a wave of his hand took care of it.

He intended to visit his mother (even now he knew the truth, he couldn't think of her as anything else) and introduce her to Hel; he was uncomfortable with her being so close to Odin, who had tried so hard to prevent her existence, and he had never been sure of Frigga's thoughts on the matter and was a little scared of what they might be. But he wanted her to see; he was sure she would love her granddaughter.

But walking past a particular corridor, he had a thought. "Would you like to see something interesting?"

She nodded, her eyes alight with curiosity. She had already seen so many wonders today - what more was there?

He turned down the corridor and led her through the doors of the vault.

She peered into the alcoves as they passed, but Loki only had the Casket in mind.

She stared up at it in awe and he lifted her up so she could get a better look. "What is it?"

"This is the Casket of Ancient Winters. Jotunheim's most precious artefact and the source of its power."

She reached out to stroke it. Her skin did not go blue as his did, but the Casket seemed to respond to her, the swirling within taking on a more agitated aspect, as it had when Loki had reached out to it.

"Is it yours?"

He blinked down at her. "I- no. Not really.

"It's from Jotunheim, though, and so are you, and you said your real father is their king. So isn't it maybe yours?"

He hated the idea that anything Jotun could be associated with him. But the small part of him that reminded him that he'd never truly belonged here whispered that both of them had been stolen and kept as trophies by a man who could never hope to wield either of them.

"Do you know, I think it is."

Oh a whim, he lowered her gently to the floor, and picking the Casket up, secreted it in his hidden pocket, before creating a perfect illusion resting on the pedestal, even creating the feeling of Coldness that emanated from the genuine relic. It would not pass close scrutiny from anyone who knew well enough, but it was enough to pass inspection by any guards checking the vault.

He didn't know why he was taking it. It was safe enough here, and he could come and examine it any time he needed to. There was no reason to keep it close, especially with all the reminders it brought. But he felt a possessive urge to keep it close. Perhaps having it around to look at would help him hate himself less. He doubted he would ever truly revel in being Jotun, but if he wanted Hel to accept herself, he owed it to her to try setting an example.

"Now, would you like to meet your grandmother?"

~~~~~

He had seen Odin in the Sleep before, but he never really got used to it. Seeing him lying there like that was unsettling. He kept his demeanour calm, but inside he was a maelstrom of emotion. The urge to prove himself the Odinson he had striven to be his whole life warred with the hatred for the man who had lied to him and killed his children. He wanted to rage at the Allfather's prone body, and at the same time fall to his knees and beg for his daughter to be taken in by the family and raised in the manner she deserved, please, spare this one and I will forgive you for all the others. He wanted to run as far away as he could to keep her daughter away from this man, and he wanted to push her forward and introduce her to him proudly as his grandchild. 

He was still unsure as to why he hadn't fled as soon as he had claimed his daughter. But he was king, and he had a duty to the throne, and he owed it to his daughter to at least try to get her accepted and give her a chance at a decent life, rather than drag her along with him in a life on the run.

His mother looked up as they entered, smiling slightly in welcome before seeing the figure at his side and gasping in shock. A chill of disappointment ran down him at her reaction.

"Loki, what have you done?!"

Ignoring her reaction, he led Hel forward, keeping himself between Odin's bed and her.

"This is my daughter, Hel. Hel, this is your grandmother, Frigga."

Hel stepped forward, shyly, though her crooked little smile was tentative after the welcome she'd received.

Frigga looked frightened. "Oh, my son. I wish you had not done this."

"Why?" he snarled.

"Loki. My son, please! It is not that I hate her, but I fear what she might bring."

Hel was looking between them, obviously upset but trying not to show it.

"What do you mean?"

"Many years ago, when you and Thor were barely more than children, I had a vision that a child of yours would bring disaster and misfortune upon the House of Odin, and the breakup of our family." She fixed him with a pleading look, begging him to understand. "It broke my heart to know that innocent babes were killed, but Odin promised me they felt nothing, and I couldn't bear to see the destruction of our family."

He felt a profound sense of betrayal, even greater than he'd felt when Odin had told him his life had been a lie. He had avoided thinking about it too deeply, scared to find out they she might support Odin's actions, but he had always believed that Odin was acting alone, reminding him that he was inferior to his golden brother. Yet all along, it had been Frigga. And the horrible thing was, she does not understand how much it has wounded him.

She thinks she was protecting him. She thinks his dislike of his family is merely rebellious petulance, and doesn't understand his feelings of alienation and loneliness. She thinks she is keeping him safe and protected in a loving family unit - the family that Loki had never felt a part of. She thinks he will view his children's deaths as acceptable losses against some possible disaster. He wonders if it would hurt less if she'd done it out of malice.

"Father?" asked a small voice beside him, and he opened his eyes and looked down to see Hel looking up at him, looking frightened, her face streaked with tears. "Am I bad?"

He sank to his knees and embraced her. "No! No you are not bad! You are wonderful and special and I love you very much. You are my precious daughter, and any disaster this family brings upon itself will not be your doing."

He got to his feet, lifting her with him and cradling her head against his chest, and stared at his mother. "She is my daughter, and I brought her to live with me. Let the sparks fall where they may, but I feel no regret and I doubt I ever shall."

He turned and left the room, saddened. Would nobody accept her? Maybe he should leave. A life of wealth and privilege didn't mean much if you were hated - just that the knife that would eventually find its way into your back would be of the very best quality.

No. He should at least try. He would prove to them all that he could be a good king, and he would be the father that he had never had. If Asgard rejected them, then it would not be for want of trying.

~~~~~

It was getting late, and Hel should probably sleep soon. But he had one last stop in mind before returning to his chambers, one that would hopefully halt those tears still dampening his shirt. 

Stopping a short way down the hallway from his parents' chambers, he pushed open a door and entered a room he had not been in for centuries. The nursery.

Having been unused for so long, it was a little dusty and had an eerie air than all unused and long-abandoned rooms have, but servants stopped by at least occasionally to stop it falling fully into decay, so it was reasonably clean.

He urged Hel to move her head and look around, and her curiosity returned.

"Is this going to be my room?"

"No, I don't think so. It is too far from my own chambers," ( _And too close to my parents' rooms_ , he thought but didn't say.) "I would rather you stay close. But a bright young girl like you needs toys and books. So let us see what we can find."

She allowed him to put her down, but clung tightly to his leg, still upset by the meeting with her grandparents.

He began going through the chests, showing items to Hel, and adding anything she showed interest in to a small pile. Next it was the books. Mindful that she could not yet read, he chose anything with lots of pictures, and made sure to pick some simple book that would be good for teaching her to read.

This turned out to be much harder than he'd expected. The shelves were full of books with colourful pictures and large, simple text, but it felt like every book he picked up and flicked through was full of terrifying depictions and descriptions of Frost Giants.

As monstrous as they were (as he was), she was different. She was a monster, but it was fine for her to be, and he didn't want to confuse her by telling her how terrible monsters were while trying to explain that it was fine for her to be a monster. There was a difference, there really was, but she was too young to understand it.

Once they had enough of a selection that he felt would suffice for the time being, until he could purchase more himself, he tipped the contents out an almost-empty box, and filled it with the pile of toys and books, then added it to his pocket dimension.

Back in the room, he got it out again, and put it in a nice corner, near the window, where she can look out over Asgard, with an especially fine view of mother's gardens (though they were tainted for him now).

After showing Hel the bathing room and helping her to use the facilities, he began looking through the books he'd brought. It was late enough for a child her age to be abed, but he thought he could spend a short while helping her learn to read. He had definitely found a few books that were suitable for the task...

"Father, when grandmother was saying I'd bring disaster she was... That is you were..."

He lifted his head from the box to look at her. "Hel, my darling. Do not trouble yourself with her words. I meant what I said. You are special."

"I know you meant what you said, father. I know you were telling the truth. But so was she! How can two people say two opposite things and both tell the truth."

Something about the way she said this made him look at her properly. A foolish parent of a normal child would roll their eyes and dismiss this as childish exaggeration, but he was no fool and she was no ordinary child. "How do you know?"

"I don't know father. I just know, that's all. I can always tell when someone is lying and when they're telling the truth. That's how I know you cared about me - mother kept saying you hated me, but I knew she was lying."

Abandoning his book search, he pulled her close to him and stroked her hair. "Hmm... let me see... I used to have a pet dog named Fenrir, I have visited all of the Nine Realms, I let the Jotuns into Asgard."

"Truth, lie, truth." A pause. "Why did you let them in?"

"I wanted to cause chaos, no more than that though, I swear. I never intended anything that came after."

"True."

"That is good to know. I lie so much it is hard for even me to be sure sometimes." He smiled down at her. "You have a gift, a very precious one, and I hope you hone it and use it wisely. Now, as for your grandmother and I... Sometimes, someone can believe something, deeply, with all their heart, so strongly that it becomes utter truth to them, even if the basis for their belief is false. Thor believed with every fibre of his being that marching into Jotunheim was the right thing to do, for example. My mother does have the gift of prophecy, but from what little she has shared with me, her visions are very vague and subject to interpretation. The Norns do not allow us too much foreknowledge, lest we interfere with their fate-weavings and disrupt their careful work. She catches snippets and brief glimpses, and little more, and nothing that gives her an idea on exactly _how_ that future comes to being. It is like seeing a picture of a beautiful place, with no idea where it is and no map as to how to get there, and worse still, the picture is a jigsaw puzzle with pieces missing and might not be so beautiful after all. Do you understand?"

She nodded. "I think so. So you're saying she might think there's going to be a disaster, but there won't be?"

"Yes. And I think her fear for her family has driven her to give more weight to this than it deserves. So the less thought we give it the better."

She went silent for a few moments, and he thought that was it. And then...

And then she said in a small voice. "What if she is right? What if I am a disaster?"

He leant close to her ear and whispered firmly, "Then I shall go to my fate gladly and with no regrets. She might believe enough in her prophecy that it has become truth to her, but I meant everything I said and I will protect you no matter what."

He hadn't realised he was crying until she reached a small hand up and wiped the tears from his cheeks. He smiled down at her and cupped her face in both hands. "She fears for her family, but you are my family, and I will protect my family."

He pulled her close against him and they sat like that until he felt a little calmer, and she seemed to have relaxed against him. He straightened. "Now, how about some reading?"

He reached into the box and picked out one of the books, a slim, prettily illustrated tome about learning the alphabet, and they sat together on some cushions on the floor for a while, with him teaching her the letters, and sounding them for her. He conjured letters out of the air in front of her and formed words out of them. He wrote her full name so she could recognise it, and his own name (though he did not add his own surname - he was not even sure what it was anymore).

When he caught her yawning, he put the book away. Looking through the bundle of clothes the servants had brought he found a nightdress, and changed her into it, before changing into his own nightclothes. They curled up together on the bed, and he read her the tale of Baldur, who had boasted far and wide that he was invincible and invited people to attack him to prove his might, but had overlooked mistletoe and had been poisoned with its berries.

Her eyes were drifting closed by this point, so he extinguished the lights with a wave of his hand, and tucked the covers around her. He'd meant to rest a little by her side until he was sure she was asleep, and then sit at his desk reading and studying, but before he knew it, he found himself drifting off too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really like the idea of Balder's death being a cautionary tale for Asgardian kids about the dangers of pride, which got lost in translation.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Timeline clarification: It's hard to be sure, what with all the switching between Midgard & Asgard, & continuity weirdness (it's day while Jane & Thor are driving to get Mjolnir, & then suddenly it's night? Those guys said it was only just out of town, so did they stop for a picnic or what?), but there seems to be some time difference, as it's definitely daytime on Asgard when they're heading out to Jotunheim, but it's night when Thor lands on Earth. I'm figuring Asgard is on Central European Time, so about 8 hours-ish ahead of Mountain Time (which is apparently what NM is on).

Loki awoke slowly to the feeling of the sun streaming through the window, and the unusual feeling of a body curled up against him. The events of the previous day came rushing back, and he nearly shot upright in shock, but got a hold of himself in time. He didn't want to wake Hel. He looked at her, and felt a wave of protectiveness. He would not allow her to get hurt in any way, and anyone who tried would meet a horrible fate.

Soon enough she awoke on her own though, yawning and stretching her tiny arms, nearly jabbing him in the face with a skeletal elbow.

"Good morning, little bird. How are you today? Hungry?"

She smiled and nodded, and he pulled a bell by the bed to summon a servant with breakfast. They knew his tastes well enough that instead of sending someone in to enquire, they send up something straight away. Hopefully it would be something Hel could manage, and they could share. It turned out to be even better, when the servant arrived, she carried a tray bearing his usual breakfast with a small bowl of porridge and a glass of milk. Someone in the kitchens was forward-thinking, it seemed. He told the servant to pass on his thanks to whoever had thought of Hel, and she bowed and scurried out.

After breaking their fast, he took her into the bathing room and they went through their morning ablutions.

He chose a slightly more comfortable outfit today, with less armour, having made his point about being king yesterday. Hel he dressed in the same outfit as yesterday; the servants had brought some nice clothing, but she obviously liked that dress.

"What are we going to do today, father?"

"Well, I think it's time I did a bit of ruling. Would you like to see the throne room?"

~~~~~

He sat proudly on the throne and allowed himself a moment of satisfaction, trying to forget the fact that the only reason he was here was by a process of elimination. Hel perched beside him, looking excitedly around. 

Huginn and Muninn fluttered through the window and landed on one of the posts by the throne. It was rumoured they reported everything to Odin, though Loki had seen no evidence of this. He was nervous, however, when Hel reached out a hand to the one nearest her and stroked it. The bird cawwed happily, and allowed the attention for a few moments before flying off with its fellow.

Before he could get down to any court business, however, a messenger arrived.

"Sire, a message from Heimdall." Loki waved at him to approach, trying to hide his worry - surely Thor hadn't found a way back so fast? It seemed not. The messenger reported that Thor had found food and shelter on Midgard, but had managed to create trouble in a failed attempt to regain Mjolnir, and had been detained. He dismissed the messenger, repressing a sigh. How typical of his brother.

He would go and see his brother, and have a few words with him. But what to do with Hel? He dare not leave her here. She was too young to be left unsupervised, even in the safety of his rooms, and he couldn't even trust Frigga to watch over her. There was nothing for it.

"Hel, my dear, how would you like to visit Midgard?"

~~~~~

He materialised close to the encampment the mortals had built up around Mjolnir, behind a convenient rock formation. He cast an illusion to clad himself in mortal garb, though he didn’t intend for anyone to see him aside from Thor. Crouching down to look his daughter in the eye, he made his position clear, speaking firmly but gently. 

"I am going to look around, and talk to your Uncle Thor. I will try not to be gone long, but I cannot be sure how long this will take. Do not wander off, do you understand?"

She nodded quickly.

"What are you going to say to Uncle Thor?"

About to prevaricate and spin vagueness about checking he was alright, he remembered her truth-telling ability and checked himself; it was probably a bad habit to get into with her too, given how he felt about his own parents lying to him.

"I am going to tell him that Odin is dead and he will not be allowed to return home ever."

"Why?"

"Because I want him to be upset, as I have had a lot of sadness, but I don't think it is something he has ever truly experienced before and I want him to know what it's like, and this is a perfect opportunity."

It seemed unnecessarily spiteful when put like that, and rather than look at her reaction, he grabbed a spare cloak out of his storage space and draped it on the wet ground so she would have something to sit on, and looked up to see that her little face was screwed up in thought. "What is it, little one?"

"Well..."

"Yes?"

"You said his father took away all his power and sent him away from his family and his friends?"

"Indeed."

"And he can't lift his hammer, which is really really really special to him?"

"Yes."

"So won't he be really sad already?"

"Well yes. But I want to make him even more sad. Because I felt really really sad when I found out my family had lied to me my whole life. And I want him to feel that hurt too, just for a little while."

"But he's already hurt. And what if he finds out?"

"He won't."

"But how do you know? His father might wake up tomorrow and forgive him and then you'll be in big trouble and they might send you away."

He almost responded that he'd be happy to be sent away, but deep down he still saw Asgard as his home, despite everything, and knew that he'd not want banishment. And who would protect Hel? Left to fend for herself amongst people who looked at her with disgust even with the protection his status brought.

She was right. Thor was almost certainly experiencing new and unfamiliar pain, and there were many ways lies could come back to bite him. He could just as easily revel in his fallen brother's plight and taunt him without going overboard.

"You are wise indeed for one so young, little bird. I shall restrain myself and stick to the truth. Now, I shall be back shortly - do not wander. I can find you if you get lost, but I do not want the fear that it will bring to see you gone and worry."

After a kiss to her forehead where the two halves of her meet, he magicks himself into the encampment.

~~~~~

Jane was freezing and soaking wet (that coat hadn't done much good), but for some reason she stayed, peering through her binoculars in the hope that Thor (or whoever he was) would come hurtling out of the camp, pursued by agents and screaming at her to 'DRIVE, DRIVE!' like they were in some terrible thriller, or walk cheerfully out, waving to the agents as he went and laughing over the misunderstanding. Yeah right. He was stuck there and so was her work. She shifted at last, backing away in a crouch and slowly getting to her feet once she was sure she was out of view of any guards. 

Shivering, she eased round the side of the crater in the direction she'd left the van in. She was busy keeping an eye out for patrolling guards and making sure she wasn't visible from the camp, and after staring at the brightly lit enclosure for so long, her night vision was shot, so she nearly tripped over someone sitting on the ground.

The moment of panic where she thought she'd walked into a guard faded when she saw how small the person was. What the hell was a kid doing out here?

"Um, are you OK? Are you lost or something?" She was pretty sure jackbooted government thugs didn't bring kids with them on their science-stealing rampages, and they were too far out into the desert for her to have just wandered off from someone. Oh god did some dick abandon her out here?

"No, thank you. My father is in there talking to my Uncle Thor. He said I should wait here and not wander off."

Jane's eyes finally adjusted enough to the dark to actually get a good look at the kid. Or rather, half a kid. The right hand side of her looked like a totally normal 6-year-old child, but on the left side she looked like a corpse. And her eyes were red, like something out of a horror film. Jane froze in shock.

The calmly cheerful look faded from the little girl's face, replaced by sadness, obviously seeing her reaction, and Jane felt awful. Monster or not, she was just a kid.

"Um, sorry. Er, you're kinda... unusual-looking? Does that hurt?" Oh god, Jane, listen to yourself! Didn't you pay attention to that sensitivity training class the university put all its staff through last semester? "I am totally sorry! That was really rude of me!"

"That's alright. It doesn't hurt. Father checked because he wondered how I could move and how I didn't get sick from infections, and I'm fine. He says I'm magical and special."

She smiled, crookedly because half her face didn't work the same, and Jane automatically smiled back. You couldn't not.

"You totally are. Your dad sounds great. What's your name?"

"Hel. Hel Lokisdottir."

"Hel, huh? I'm Jane. Jane Foster. Do you know how long your dad's going to be? I'm not sure you're safe out here. Pretty sure those SHIELD guys are 'shoot first and ask questions later' types."

She shook her head. "He said he'd try not to be too long."

Jane sat down next to her on the green blanket. "Well I'll stay here until he does. Where are you from?"

"Asgard."

That's when Jane remembered. " _Uncle Thor_ ," she'd said. And " _Lokisdottir_ ”.

"Wait, are you saying that guy in there is telling the truth? He actually is Thor? And Asgard is a real place?"

She nodded, with that lopsided grin. "Mmm-hmm!"

She couldn't believe it. She was right! There were Einstein-Rosen bridges out there, and worlds on the other side of them! OK, maybe she only had the kid's word for it, but considering the kid was drawing pictures in the dirt with a hand that was literally skeletal and should not have been moveable without any muscle, Jane was going to have to accept that maybe there was something beyond the understanding of conventional scientific knowledge going on here.

"So what are you doing here? Are you visiting Uncle Thor too?"

"No. Well sort of. I found him, and those people down there stole my life's work - I guess because the data I was collecting detected him and maybe his hammer and they want to keep me in the dark - and he said if I helped him to get here, he'd give me answers and get back the stuff those bas- people stole. But I think they caught him. Is your dad trying to get him out?"

"I don't think so. He says Uncle Thor is being punished, and usually he never gets punished for anything, so he deserves it maybe a little."

"Oh well. I hope he'll intervene if SHIELD pull anything too bad though..." She looked down at the drawing Hel was working on. "Hey, that's a bird isn't it?"

"Yes! It's not as good as the one my father sent me though. Look!"

She fished in her dress and pulled out a letter. It was all in runes, so she couldn't read it, but there was a really nice drawing of a bird of some kind - a sparrow, maybe? Jane didn't really know much about birds. She reached out and touched it, and suddenly there was birdsong. She jumped, and looked for some kind of speaker, like the kind you got in those really annoying birthday cards, but it seemed to be normal paper. OK, weird parchment-y paper, but still paper.

"How-?"

"My father is really good at magic."

"That shouldn't be possible."

"But it is." She touched the bird again, and the song repeated. "It always makes me happy when I'm sad. What makes you happy when you're sad?"

"The stars. I've loved space since I was your age, and my dad used to take me out stargazing. I've worked my whole life studying the stars, and it keeps me going when people call me crazy."

"Why do people call you crazy?"

"Because I'm trying to prove there are bridges to other points in space."

"But there are."

"I know that now. But other people don’t."

"Those people are stupid."

Jane laughed. "They totally are!" She stops laughing. "Only now SHIELD have all my work, so I don't have any of my data to demonstrate it."

She sighed and falls backwards, resting on her elbows and looking up at the sky. Hel lies back and joins her.

A breeze blows over them and reminds Jane of her damp state. "Aren't you cold?"

"No. I don't really get cold."

"Lucky you."

Hel stared up at the sky too for a few moments, then looked around. "Is all of Midgard like this."

Brought - literally - back down to earth, Jane blinked and looked around. "Huh? Oh, no. There's all sort of different landscapes - forests and swamps and snow and fields."

She fumbled for her phone, looking for some photos that might illustrate her point. But most of her photos were taken inside, or were of Puente Antiguo. "Ah, here - this is London. It's a really big city in a different part of the world. My mom lives there and I took that from her window."

She was enthralled by the photo at first, but then was super curious about the phone. "What is this?"

"It's a phone. A communication device. But it also takes photos. See."

She pulled Hel against her so their faces were close together, and snapped a picture.

"That's me! Is that magic?"

"I- no-" She wasn't sure what the definition of magic even was now, beyond the idea put forward by Clarke, but she was saved from having to answer by a guy just appearing from thin air in front of them.

~~~~~

Rather than go straight to his brother, Loki chose to wonder round the facility first, wanting to see what they were doing - they had taken possession of Mjolnir (insofar as they could, anyway), and it would be remiss of him not to discover what they knew of it and what their intentions were. It seemed they had no real idea what it was, and had merely identified it as something Other so wished to discover its secrets. He did not trust their intentions and doubtless they would use it for ill if they found a way to harness it, but there was no indication they were remotely able to do so, so let them prod at it for now.

He noticed that some of the equipment was kept separate from the rest, with a more cobbled together air, though he was not sure what really distinguished it from anything else, and didn't feel like looking through it to find out.

Several of the mortals were being treated for wounds sustained as Thor rampaged through the encampment, though their wounds seemed superficial and not significant even for fragile mortals. He sighed at his brother's lack of sense. He could just have easily entered the camp by explaining he knew Mjolnir's secrets; the mortals would have felt obliged to allow him entrance in order to interrogate him, and would almost certainly allow him to attempt to lift it. But of course for Thor, subtlety would never do when he could punch his way in. Clearly it would take more than losing his power to gain any sense.

Having learned what he felt he could from a cursory look round, and not wanting to dally too long while Hel waited alone, he made his way to the room where his not-brother was being held. Ingeniously, the mortals had developed surfaces that could be seen through as windows from one side, but showed only as mirrors on the other. So a prisoner could see naught but his own torment, while anyone around could keep them in sight and watch them squirm. For a master of illusion such as himself, however, such things were easily tricked, and he would speak to his brother freely, while they only saw their prisoner sat mutely in his chair, staring at the floor.

He watched the quiet, unassuming little man (who was surely anything but - he was just too calm, and apparently unconcerned with being left alone in a room with an unbound, violent prisoner) interrogating his brother, clearly having no idea who he was. He glared at the man's back at the implied threat of torture. Much as he delighted in seeing his brother suffering, that was just a bit too far.

The man left the room, answering a summons from the device in his pocket, and Loki revealed himself to his brother.

"Loki! What are you doing here?!" The oaf looked happy to see him. It would be gratifying were it not for the fact that he obviously assumed Loki was here to pull him out of trouble, as was expected.

Not letting frustration and resentment show on his face, with the ease of long, long practice, he told him, "I had to see you."

His look changed to concern. "What's happened? Tell me. Is it Jotunheim? Let me explain to father."

The temptation to feed him some devastating lie ( _'Father is dead.' 'The war has already begun and your friends all fell in the first battle.' 'Everyone in Asgard was only pretending to like you all along and are actually happy you're gone.'_ ) was overwhelming, but he remembered his daughter's innocent-but-accurate counsel and restrained himself.

"Father has fallen into the Odinsleep; mother does not know if he will awaken. Your banishment, the threat of a new war, it was too much for him to bear. You mustn't blame yourself. The burden of the throne has fallen to me now. When I received word that you had failed in an attempt to retrieve Mjolnir and were being held by mortals, I felt I should investigate in person to verify what had occurred, and confirm whether or not the mortals' attempt to take possession of Mjolnir is not part of some ill intent toward Asgard."

Thor looked crushed at his revelations, but a look of hope dawned on his features when Loki revealed he was king.

"Can I come home?"

"No." Thor opened his mouth to object, to demand Loki fulfil his purpose in life and extricate him from trouble and protect him from consequences. "Odin banished you as a lesson; I am not going to go back on that as soon as his back is turned."

His brother seemed to sink in upon himself, unsure what to do now the last threads of his safety net had frayed and broken. Mjolnir would not respond to him, his doting father was not available to forgive him, and now even his faithful shadow was refusing to follow his lead.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I shall take my leave of you. Farewell, brother."

He turned away rather than look at his brother's face and pathetic figure, and sensing the interrogator returning, teleported himself out of the base before he could hear any reply that might have been made.

Expecting to find Hel sitting and waiting for him, he was shocked to find her sprawled on the ground with a strange woman.

"Father!" Hel jumped to her feet and hugged him. He hugged her back automatically, subtly checking she was unharmed, but not taking his eyes off the woman. She couldn't be part of the group studying Mjolnir - she was soaking wet from the rain, and surely she'd have taken shelter if she was part of the camp?

"Who are you?" he demanded, glaring down at her, feeling his magic respond to his rage and concern, and she looked terrified.

Hel detached herself from him and stepped back towards her. "Father, it's alright! This is Lady Jane. She was waiting here too, and she kept me company because she was worried about me."

He relaxed, and so did the woman. “Then you have my thanks, Lady Jane. I am Loki of Asgard and I am pleased to make your acquaintance. But what are you doing out here? Surely you do not work for those people down there?"

This energised her, and she surged to her feet. "I damn well do not! They stole my life's work, just when I was on the verge of a breakthrough, just because they're investigating some stupid hammer and they don't want anyone else to know about it or have any information about where it might have come from!"

Her rage and passion crackled on the air, reminding him of his brother when he was determined about something, though this woman was half his size.

Hel tugged on his coat, looking up at him pleadingly. "Father, she found Uncle Thor and those people down there stole her work because she was studying the Bifrost and they don't want anyone to know about it except them, and Uncle Thor was going to get everything back for her but he didn't."

"He seemed so sure as well, even told me he was going to fly out. I still wasn't entirely sure he wasn't some crazy person, but he seemed so convincing I found myself going along with it and driving him out here. Wasn't like I had much to lose either - everything was gone and I have nothing left." She waved her hand at the two of them. "And now it turns out he was telling the truth, and he really is Thor, God of Thunder. But he couldn't get the hammer back, could he?"

The last part was asked as a direct question, an unsure note suggesting she wanted confirmation of what she deduced had occurred.

"He did not. The hammer will not respond to him until he proves himself worthy."

"And you left him there? Are you sure he's alright?"

Of course, she saw Thor as some poor victim of circumstances not of his own making. "Did he tell you why he was cast out?"

"No..."

"Thor was on the verge of being crowned king when a group of Frost Giants broke into the Vault and attempted to take something. They were quickly dispatched and Odin, believing them to be a group of malcontents, ordered no action be taken until he'd investigated. Thor felt he knew better and marched into Jotunheim demanding answers of their king, flew into a rage at a minor insult, and launched an attack, killing many. Their king declared war, shattering a peace that has lasted a thousand years." He saw her wince. "Yet almost the first thing he does once he arrives here is do virtually the same thing. He had not understood why he was being punished. Hopefully this will underline the point."

He tilted his head, observing her carefully. "My daughter says you found him. Am I right in assuming that you offered him food and shelter?"

"You are."

"Tell me, did he offer any gratitude for your kindness?"

She opened her mouth, then closed it.

He nodded in acknowledgement. "Exactly. So, no I shall not bail him out at the slightest hint of adversity, especially when that adversity is of his own making. I doubt they will harm him. He is being detained for attempting to retrieve an object they have identified as unusual, and in doing so, has displayed knowledge of it. They will be fairly careful how they treat him; they will want to observe him above all else."

She nodded, understanding his reasoning.

"I guess that makes sense. I just wish he'd been able to get me my stuff back. Even some of my notes would have been better than nothing."

She slumped, and it was only then that Loki realised how much energy burned within her. He felt another tug on his coat. Looking down, he saw his daughter looking pleading. This woman had treated his daughter well - the only person to do so (aside from the unknown cook who had prepared breakfast for Hel unasked, but that didn't even count - it could be a politically savvy move by a cook who wished to keep their position, or they could be unaware of Hel's... condition and merely be aware the King Loki had brought his bastard get to the palace).

Detaching his daughter from him - patting her hands for reassurance - he stepped away. "If you'll excuse me just a moment."

Magicking himself back into the camp, he moved toward the collection of items he had noted earlier and stood in front of it, pondering. He couldn't take all of it, as it would be noticed and they would simply march back over and take it again, more forcefully this time. And he didn't know which notes were important and which were trivialities regarding unrelated subjects.

His eyes fell upon a notebook, tatty and bulging with items stuffed into its pages. It looked apparently unremarkable sitting amongst stark white paper, but as something of a scholar himself, he knew that it was the shabby tomes and crumbled papers that were the truly important things, as they were used and referred to most often, and contained more personal study material that had not yet been polished for the consumption of others. He picked that up and slid it into his coat pocket.

Walking along the tables, casting about and poking at piles of paper in case there were more likely-looking notebooks, his fingers caught on a length of cable. Pulling on it to free his hand toppled a pile of papers the whatever-it-was had been caught in.

He stepped away as someone came to investigate, unseen behind his invisibility spell, the item still tangled around his hand as putting it back would attract more attention. Fortunately, the man did not suspect tampering. Muttering about the wind and people not stacking things properly, he righted the pile of papers and folders, and placed some piece of equipment or other on top to weight it, before walking away again back to whatever he'd been doing.

That was probably a sign he'd done enough. The notebook would have to do. He cast a few mischievous enchantments around the camp, and then magicked himself back outside, presenting Lady Jane with her book with a grand gesture.

"Oh my god! I don't believe it! My notebook!"

"Only a small thing, I'm afraid, but I feel retrieving more would cause suspicion, which would surely fall upon you."

"No, no, this is great! This is... I don't have to start from scratch now. Thank you!"

She smiled up at him, and Loki felt strangely warm.

Hel picked up with device he'd dropped. "What's this?"

"Oh hey, that's Darcy's iPod! She's my assistant, and she was really upset about them taking it." To Hel, she explained, "It plays music, through those earphones."

A breeze picked up and blew over them, and Jane shivered, and he realised she was still wet from the earlier rain. Mortals were fragile creatures and liable to catch a cold and die.

"If you'll allow me..."

A wave of his hand enveloped her in a ball of warmth, and her hair and clothes were immediately dry. She blinked, surprised, dropping the coat that she'd been using for warmth, and patted herself down.

She looked back at him. "How did you do that? You just dried my clothes just like that. And you appeared and disappeared. And Hel has a drawing that makes noise that doesn't come from any source I can see. And how can you manipulate Einstein-Rosen bridges? And..."

He held up a hand. "Please, Lady Jane, one question at a time."

He could see her blush, even in the darkness. "Sorry. And it's just Jane. No lady."

"Very well, Jane."

She twisted the notebook in her hands, nervously. "Look, if it's not too much trouble, and you're not busy or something, could we maybe go and sit down and I could ask you about how this stuff all works, maybe see how it connects to my theories? Just grab a bite to eat and talk a little?"

Hel looked up from the 'iPod', excitement in her eyes. "Father, can we please? I want to try Midgardian food!"

He wavered in the face of two pairs of pleading eyes. "Well. I suppose you deserve some compensation for having to put up with my brother."

She grinned. "Well I did hit him with my car a couple of times."

"Oh, now this I have to hear..."

~~~~~

Teleportation was really disorienting. She supposed she should have expected that. He'd asked her to think of where she'd like to eat, and she'd named a diner in town without thinking. Now that they were standing outside she cringed.

"Actually, maybe we should go someplace else. I'm not sure that is the best introduction to Earth food."

Loki shrugged. "I'm sure it will suffice. I doubt you would have picked anywhere truly dire, and we are here more for the conversation than anything."

"Now," he said, turning to Hel and crouching down in front of her just inside the alleyway they had materialised in, looking serious and maybe a little bit concerned. "You are quite lovely my dear, but I suspect your appearance will attract comment and we do not want to bring unwanted attention, so I am going to cast an illusion spell on you. Alright?"

The little girl nodded. "That's alright, father."

"Very well, now, hold still a moment..." A flick of his fingers, and a green glow appeared around her. When it dissipated, a normal-looking child stood there, both sides of her body living and whole, and with the same green eyes as her dad. She looked down at herself, curiously.

"This spell only remains in place by your permission, so try not to think it away, alright, little bird?"

"I'll try, father."

"I'm sure you will." He beamed proudly down at her, and Jane thought it was so sweet.

They entered the diner and found a table in the corner. Hel peered at the menu with great interest.

"What are 'waffles'?"

"Not sure how you'd describe them... Cakes, but they're pretty light and plain? You eat them with toppings of some kind."

"So, sweet, but not so much as to upset a delicate stomach of one not used to rich foods?"

"Nope. Should be fine. Maybe choose ice cream to go with them? And orange juice to drink?"

"Yes, that sounds fine."

“Has she been ill? Somehow I doubt you'd skimp on feeding her well."

Loki's face darkened. "She is fine. She was not ill - not as you assume anyway. My previous children were considered freaks and Odin had them killed. I was forced to keep her a secret to spare her from such a fate, and she was in the sole care of her mother, who starved and neglected her. I only discovered this yesterday when I took advantage of Odin's absence to bring her to the palace. I had not been able to visit before then, for fear that I would lead harm to their door."

Jane just ordered coffee. She was too curious to think about eating - the anticipation was just too much. She had the opportunity to question someone from an advanced civilisation capable of instantaneous (or at least damn quick) interstellar travel. Not only could she confirm her theories, but by coming at it from a completely different direction, she could start to build a working hypothesis, fill in gaps in her theories.

OK, so there'd been Thor. But she'd been working on the assumption that he was a crazy person wandering the desert who just got caught up in a freak tornado, and he hadn't paused inhaling food for long enough to answer a question. By the time she'd figured out he was more than she'd assumed, SHIELD had nabbed him.

He might not have been able to tell her much anyway. From the impression she was getting from Loki, and his laid back attitude while with her, he didn't seem like the sort of guy to sweat the details much.

Loki ordered a coffee too. Either because he was curious about the drink, or he really didn't care what he got and just picked the same thing to save bother.

Hel had figured out how to operate the iPod, and was busy listening to Darcy's terrible taste in music, though she had to physically hold the left earbud in, because her withered ear couldn't keep it in place, so Jane felt safe enough to ask, "Wow seriously, so Odin straight up killed your kids, and you still follow him?"

"They were both monsters, and their births occurred at times when I was conveniently away on diplomatic missions - with hindsight, this was likely deliberate on Odin's part - so by the time I had returned the deed had been done, and I simply took their word that the children couldn't have been allowed to live and that killing them was a kindness." He shrugged, though with a hint of irritation that suggested he regretted his past self's capitulation. "But when I got a woman with child a third time, I could not bring myself to condemn it to death without even seeing it. I arranged to have the woman set up in a house outside the city and birth the child in secret. I dared not visit lest I lead Odin right to them."

He looks down at Hel, swaying and jigging to the music coming through the earphones. "Though it seems I did not consider the danger from her mother."

“But even if the children are…” she paused, trying to come up with a diplomatic term. “Unusual… why would someone kill them?”

“My mother has visions of the future sometimes, and it seems that she had a premonition that a child of mine would bring ruin to Asgard. Such things are taken very seriously.” He stared into his coffee a moment before continuing. “But the king is in the Odinsleep, a magical restorative state, so I have taken the opportunity to bring her to the palace. I can only hope that once people meet her, they will realise she is wonderful, and see her as the princess she is.”

He went silent, and Jane tried to reassure him. "I’m sure they’ll all love her. She's a sweet kid."

He sighed. "I know nothing about children. I worry I will do her yet more damage."

Jane shrugged. "I don't think anyone goes into parenthood knowing all the answers. I guess you just have to do the best you can and make sure she knows you love her."

"I do hope you are right." He still looked unsure, and Jane tried to think of something reassuring to say, but right at that moment their coffees and Hel's waffles arrived. She dropped the left earbud and tried to pick the top one up to eat it.

"No no no! Here." She cut the waffles into small pieces. "There you go!"

Hel beamed up at her. "Thank you, Lady Jane."

She fidgeted, embarrassed, occupying herself with adding milk and sugar to her coffee. "I told you, it's just Jane. I'm no Lady."

Loki snorted. "I beg to differ. Now, what do you want to ask me?"

Where to start? "Ok, I guess the big thing I want to know is, how does this Bifrost of yours work?"

Her coffee cooled beside her as she frantically scribbled down what he was telling her. She didn't entirely follow his explanation, because he came at it from a completely different frame of reference, but it's possible once she went through her own data, she could find ways of interpreting it. Maybe if she didn't wear out her welcome, she might be able to inspect this wormhole generator of theirs? Possibly not - it seemed like the sort of thing that they wouldn’t show random strangers around, but Loki and Thor were princes, so that might count for something.

Loki's mention of paths between the realms intrigued her. Maybe if she couldn't study the Bifrost, he could show her one or two of those, and she could get some readings. Again, assuming he was willing to indulge her beyond courtesy for keeping his daughter company.

He took her notebook and drew a beautifully detailed map, labelled with the most elegant handwriting she'd ever seen. Lulled by his soothing voice explaining about the realms, like the universe's best travelogue, she almost forgot to pepper him with questions about how anything he did was possible.

They were interrupted by Jane's phone ringing. Checking the screen, she saw Darcy's name and face. Oh yeah, she was probably wondering why her boss wasn't up on the roof of the lab, moping. She answered with a guilty wince.

"Look, I'm sorry I bailed on you guys, but I-"

"Yeah I know. You went to drive Blondie out to get Mew-Muh. He just got back."

"I'm sorry, I shou- Wait, he's back? How? Did he escape?" Loki was looking at her with interest. She wasn't sure if he could hear Darcy's half of the conversation, but it couldn't be hard to figure out they were talking about Thor.

"He didn't. They just drove him back here and told us to keep him out of trouble. He says they just asked him a bunch of questions about where he learned to fight and let him go when he didn't answer."

"Seriously? He breaks into a government facility, beats the crap out of a bunch of guys, and tries to make off with a weird object, and they just let him go because he took the fifth?"

Loki chimed in. "They probably are hoping to gain more answers by following him than interrogating him."

"Wait, is that a guy? Are you on a date?! Oh my god!"

"Darcy! Focus!"

"Yeah yeah OK. Heard what he said, and already figured that out. Political Science major, remember? Just because I don't understand black holes doesn't mean I don't understand this sort of stuff. Not sure what answers they'll get seeing as he seems to be delusional, but I warned him to be careful about wandering."

"Yeah, about that. Turns out he's not actually delusional."

"Seriously? What makes you think that?"

"Long story. I'll tell you when I get back to the lab later."

"OK yeah sure. Don't wanna interrupt a date." Jane could practically hear the smirk. "Is he hot?"

"Hanging up now." She hit the screen to end the call and turned back to Loki. "Now, where were we?"

“I believe you'd just asked me how anything I do is possible. You may wish to be more specific."

"Just... all this stuff I've seen you do. Disappearing and reappearing, drying my clothes with a wave of your hand, making a drawing that has sound..."

"A simple answer: magic."

"No, no! That can't be right. There must be some sort of scientific explanation!"

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. Possibly your science is all wrong." She glared indignantly at him. Grinning back at her, he grabbed a napkin and sketched a quick drawing of a cat on it, and waved a hand over it, before handing it to her. It was much more crudely drawn than Hel's bird, but when her fingers brushed it, it meowed at her.

He gave her a mischievous grin. "Tell me, Jane. What does your science say about this?"

She opened her mouth, not sure what she was going to retort with, but was saved from a response by the owner announcing the diner was about to close.

Outside, she shivered. It was cold, and she'd left the coat Thor had draped over her out in the desert.

"Here." Loki waved his hands, and a green blanket appeared between them. He draped it over her shoulders. "You mortals are fragile creatures; I would not wish you to catch cold. Now, Hel, I believe that device belongs to Jane's friend."

Hel surrendered the iPod with only mild reluctance. "Thank you for letting me play with it."

"No problem. I'm sure Darcy won't mind. You're a sweet kid." She smiled that crooked smile.

Loki took her hand and kissed it. She'd already had that from Thor, but it still felt strange and somehow intimate, and she giggled nervously.

"It was a pleasure making your acquaintance, Jane."

"Same here. Hope I didn't bore you. Please, feel free to visit any time."

"You did not bore me, and I thank you for your offer. Good night, Jane."

Waving, the two disappeared from view, and Jane turned, trudging unmagically towards the lab, bracing herself for Darcy's questions. She'd rather be interrogated by SHIELD.

~~~~~

Darcy pounced as soon as Jane was in the doors. "Soooo...." she drawled, wriggling her eyebrows in a really disturbing way. "Who's the guy? Is he hot? And what is that thing you're wrapped in?" 

"That is my brother's cloak!" exclaimed Thor, rising from the kitchen table, where he'd been brooding over a (thankfully unbroken) mug of coffee. "You have seen him?"

Erik, did not look pleased. Figures. He hadn't wanted Thor anywhere near her, even though he'd seemed harmless enough (aside from the initial confrontation in the desert), so he'd probably disapprove of yet another random guy showing up.

"Yeah, I ran into him outside the SHIELD base. He got some of my notes back. And, oh yeah, here." She held the iPod out to Darcy.

"My iPod! Aw, sweet! Tell your new boyfriend thanks!"

"He's not my boyfriend! I ran into him, and he agreed to answer a few questions about interstellar travel and magic. Or what they call magic, anyway."

"What's his name? Is he hot?"

"Loki, and I suppose he is OK looking… But that's not the point! I was gathering data!"

She heard Erik exclaim, "Loki!" but ignored him, really not wanting to get into this with him right now. She was busy enough dealing with a rebellious intern to worry about a stern lecture from someone who refused to believe in her.

"Oh yeah, is that what they call it now?"

Jane just glared at her.

"Fine, so what _data_ were you _gathering_?" She loaded as much innuendo as she could into those two words, but Jane ignored the implication.

"Well, he knows a bit about this Einstein-Rosen bridge that his and Thor's people use to travel, and while they have a completely different way of looking at things, I think I can tie it into the data I've collected with a bit of work. He also talked a little about pathways that seem to be stable bridges between realms. He gave a few demonstrations of what he called magic, but I couldn't figure out how it works."

"Realms? Like, you mean planets? Or what?"

"I'm not entirely sure. It could be their way of looking at other planets in their solar system, but Earth is included in it. Here." She pulled her notebook out, flipped it open to the page with Loki's beautifully-drawn map, and put it down on the table. "That one there - Midgard. That's us, apparently."

"Huh, cool. Your boyfriend is a good artist."

"For the millionth time, Darcy, he's not my boyfriend."

"Yeah, sure. You know you get a weird, dopey look on your face when you talk about him, right?"

"He has been a valuable source of knowledge to draw on for my work! I'm excited! He's proof that I'm on the right track! And he's encouraging me - which is more than I can say for some people!"

Erik, recognising a dig at him (which he deserved - she'd called him to share her findings, and he'd done nothing but rain on her parade) spoke up. "Jane, listen to yourself! You're taking the word of people who are clearly delusional!"

Thor looked annoyed at the obvious insult to him, but he needed to get in line. "You didn't see what I saw!"

Darcy interrupted. "Look! Look, it's Myeu-muh!"

Jane looked over to find her peering at a book on the table, which Erik had apparently been reading, opened at a description of the hammer Mjolnir. It didn't belong to her or Darcy. Flicking through a few pages, she found a description of Loki that was... less than flattering. "Where did you find this?"

"The children's section. I just wanted to show you how silly his story was."

Why was he so determined to shoot this down? Where was the encouraging mentor she'd grown up looking up to?

"But you're the one who's always pushing me to chase down every possibility, every alternative!"

"I'm talking about science, not magic!"

"Well, magic's just science that we don't understand yet! Arthur C.Clarke."

"Who wrote science fiction."

"A precursor to science fact!"

"In some cases, yeah."

"Well, this is definitely one of those cases! There's an Einstein-Rosen bridge, and there's something on the other side. And advanced beings have crossed it. And if they can, so can we!"

"Jane..."

"A primitive culture like the Vikings would have worshipped them as deities."

 _Thank you, Darcy!_ "Yes! Yes, exactly. Thank you." She turned back to Erik. "Look, whatever it is, I saw him do stuff that could definitely be described as magic."

"Jane, whatever you thought you saw..."

"I didn't _think_ I saw anything. I know exactly what I saw!"

Erik subsided at that, but from the way he was looking at her, he still thought she was imagining things.

Not wanting to look at his face, she looked back down at her notebook, still open on the map of the Nine Realms. It really was beautiful. She ran her fingers over the lines, and suddenly the map came to life and she found herself surrounded by planets and stars, slowly drifting in their courses, a huge tree in the middle with branches spanning the space. Somehow she just knew they were accurately portrayed. Awed, she stared around herself at the beauty, barely noticing the others around her. She'd been in planetariums with powerful telescopes and calm atmospheres, but this was something else.

Reaching out a hand, she passed it through what a tiny glowing gold label floating above it informed her was Vanaheim. There was no resistance, but her hand felt warm where the planet (or realm, or whatever) was. Or perhaps that was just her brain trying to fill in something where it found nothing.

"This is the coolest thing I've ever seen." Darcy's voice sounded as amazed as Jane felt. She turned slowly around, trying to take it all in.

Turning back to the notebook again, she touched it once more, curious, and the illusion faded, revealing the lab once more. Jane picked up the notebook and looked at the now-2D map.

"Thor, your brother is amazing." Weirdly, he looked a little offended at that. She looked at Erik, defiantly. "So, still think I'm imagining things?"

He sighed, reluctant to give in. "I still don't think you should be getting involved with this guy."

"I'm not 'getting involved' with him! I just spoke to him! What is this? High school?"

Thor chose to chime in at this point. "Lady Jane, though Selvig has given me insult, I do agree with him. It is a bad idea for any woman to get involved with him. He sires hideous monsters." He shook his head. "No woman will touch him, for fear of him getting a monster upon them. You should likewise steer clear of such a fate."

Now she was really angry. "I know. I met his daughter. She looks a little weird, but is absolutely adorable."

"He had a kid with him?"

"Yes, so enough about it being a date already. Here." She showed Darcy the selfie.

"Wow. OK. Yeah. You're not kidding about weird." Darcy said, eyebrows raised. "Cute though," she added, seeing Jane's glare.

Erik, peering over their shoulders, jumped back. "What is that?"

"A child. She has a... condition. But she acts like any other kid her age, and she's really sweet. It pretty much sealed the deal that something weird was going on. I mean I could have put Thor down to a delusional guy on steroids, but then I practically trip over a kid who's basically half dead."

Thor was looking horrified. "He has a daughter? And he brought her to the palace?"

Jane shrugged. "Yeah. Apparently he sent her mother away to raise her in secret, but she abused the kid. He went down to visit when everyone was distracted and your dad was asleep, and found her and rescued her."

"Aw man. Poor kid. How can she even move around though?"

"I really have no idea. It seemed rude to ask too many questions, and everything seems to work and move normally. She's impossible, but she... is. She liked your iPod by the way, though I don't know if your musical tastes are the best introduction to Earth culture."

"Hey! My taste is awesome!" her intern protested. "She really liked it?"

"Yeah. I don't think she'd seen anything like it before. Not sure if it's because Asgard doesn't have anything like that, or if it's because her mom never gave her anything nice."

Darcy reply was cut off by a yawn, and Jane realised how tired she was.

"OK, it's been a long day, and any kind of discussion can wait till tomorrow. I'm going back to my trailer to sleep."

Grabbing her notebook, she turned and walked out of the lab. Back in her trailer, she got ready for bed, but instead of sleeping, she opened the notebook and immersed herself in a projection of the nine realms.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes! I haven't abandoned this story!
> 
> You even get 2 chapters at once, because one is Loki's POV, & the next is Hel's, & I felt it was important to see both perspectives of the little meltdown that Loki has here.
> 
> I'm going to catch up on comments now. I love that people are liking this!

Loki sat upon the throne of Asgard, Hel sitting on a step beside him, occupied in drawing and colouring pictures. He was trying to concentrate on the business of ruling, but his mind kept wandering back to the events of the morning, and the conversation over 'coffee'. It had been most enjoyable, and Jane had proved to be interesting and intelligent company. He hoped she'd liked the surprise he'd left.

So the Midgardians (or at least one of them at any rate) were close to cracking the secrets of travel between realms. He wondered if Odin had known. Probably not. Asgard jealously guarded the secrets of the Bifrost, and kept its hold over the other realms by ferrying diplomats and merchants between realms, and having the means to do the same thing with an army if necessary (whether the army was there to protect or pacify, well, that was up to the realm now, wasn't it?). The dwarves, with all their artifice, probably had a means of travel, but they kept to themselves, and if such a thing did exist was likely created just to see if they could, and then immediately placed away in a storeroom.

Midgard though? Oh Odin would not like that at all. The mortals were utterly naive about their place in Yggdrasil, and would damage the delicate balance between the realms. Really, if Loki wanted to win Odin's favour, he should see to it that this attempt came to naught. The mortals were numerous and capricious, and setting them loose on the universe would be a recipe for chaos.

But.

He did so love chaos.

And he had to admit that he rather liked Jane too.

Dismissing the latest petitioner (a merchant with a multitude of grievances, none of which were within the King's control), he turned to regard his daughter.

She was sat sideways on to the room, and people's changing reactions were telling. They would look curious for a moment, then smile indulgently... and then Hel would turn to look at them, and they would glimpse the other side of her body, and draw back, looking revolted. The well-trained ones would take on a rigid expression, knowing that showing any reaction put them at a disadvantage. Part of him hoped that some of those who were covering up reactions were simply hiding surprise rather than disgust, but he knew better.

He sighed. He had been aware that it would be hard for Hel to find acceptance, but he had hoped for better than this. He'd somehow felt that if they saw her, and if she smiled up at them in her crooked little way, everyone would fall instantly in love with her. How could they not?

Stupid, really. They'd never even accepted him without even knowing he was a monster. Or maybe they had known, somehow, on some deep instinctive level? Perhaps that's why he had always failed to gain acceptance, no matter what he did?

"Father, are you alright?"

Hel had heard the sigh, and was looking concerned. He forced the maudlin expression off his face and smiled. "Fine, little bird. Simply tired."

She looked disbelieving. Ah yes, of course. The truth-telling ability.

"I am disappointed in how Asgard is treating you, and disappointed in myself for hoping things would be better."

"Lady Jane was nice."

"She was indeed."

"Maybe other people here will be nicer?"

"Perhaps. We can but hope."

"Are there any children here? Maybe I can play with them?"

He frowned. There definitely were children around, but aside from Volstagg's brood, he had only a vague idea whose they were. "I think so."

Checking the time, he realised it was lunch time. Taking a break might be a good idea. "Come. Let us get something to eat."

They returned to his chambers (having dealt with people all morning in the throne room, he was in no mood for the banquet hall), ordering food from a servant on the way.

Once back, he magicked away his kingly apparel and slouched into his more comfortable chair, Hel curling up beside him. He admired her drawings, and promised to display them proudly on the wall. There was one of the throne, one of the night sky (possibly Midgard's), the house she and her mother had lived in, a woman he was sure was Jane, and the plate of 'waffles' she'd had on Midgard. His favourite, though, was of him and Hel together. They were all crudely drawn and barely recognisable as the things they were depicting, but they were the greatest examples of art he had ever seen.

Their food arrived, and while eating, he found himself pondering the issue of Jotunheim. There was a lot more to consider than there would be if he was a true son of Odin and Asgardian by birth, where he would simply be trying to talk Laufey out of his hasty declaration of war and renegotiating the peace.

Laufey was his father, his real father, and had left him to die. He'd always felt unwanted and left out, and this seemed to be yet another instance of rejection, but even worse - the idea of abandoning Hel horrified him. He wanted to punish the creature for casting him out. On the other hand, was Odin any better a father? Taking Loki in, but only as a possible bargaining chip, killing his children, and treating him as inferior to Thor. Punishing Laufey seemed to be endorsing Odin's treatment of him, in some way.

Ultimately, it came down to what mattered: Hel. If he wanted to prove her worthy of acceptance, he must prove his own worth as a king of Asgard. What is more, if he struck a hard enough blow at the monstrous Frost Giants, then it would demonstrate his loyalty to his home and family, despite his own Jotun blood, and his daughter would benefit from his demonstration of allegiance.

How best to achieve this though? Simply walking into Jotunheim and killing Laufey, though satisfying, would not work. Thor had been banished for roughly the same thing. And while Jotunheim and Asgard were technically at war (so he would not be shattering a peace accord as his golden brother had been), Odin had been known to ignore technicalities where Loki was concerned. If it came to light, other realms might take a dim view of a ruler of another realm essentially assassinating another ruler in his own home.

Besides, it seemed... poor form somehow. And he wanted something more decisive. Simply killing Laufey would only mean a successor taking his place, who would desperately need to secure their rule and prove themselves, and what better way of doing that than waging war on their old enemies?

An even worse thought occurred to him. Odin waking up, seeing the vacant Jotun throne, and having an idea of just who should fill it...

No.

He considered asking Heimdall if he saw anything that could be viewed as preparation for war by the Frost Giants, which he could use as some kind of pretext for an attack, and his mind threw up a memory of Heimdall’s warning about the damage the Bifrost could do if left open. Perfect.

But he still wanted to kill Laufey personally. And unleashing the Bifrost on Jotunheim would be seen as overkill, even for dealing with monsters. So, he needed an excuse to kill Laufey, and a reason to use a destructive weapon on another realm.

A plan started to form in his head. Lure Laufey to Asgard, thus providing a legitimate reason for killing him ( _It was self defence!_ ), and a perfect pretext to strike a decisive blow against their great enemy, eliminating them forever ( _This is the second time they've invaded our borders, this time with their king - we cannot be sure of our safety as long as they still live!_ ). Asgard would rejoice and view him as a great hero, and Odin would not be able to dispute his reasons. And how would anyone even dare to suggest Hel did not belong then?

Coming out of his thoughts, he realised he'd stopped eating, and Hel was looking at him curiously. "What is the matter, father?"

He beamed at her, proud and pleased. If this worked as he hoped, she would gain status and acceptance.

"I am thinking of ways to deal with the Frost Giants, little one, and I believe I have found the perfect way of ending matters, and proving to everyone here that you and I both belong in Asgard."

Her eyes lit up with excitement. "What are you going to do?"

He so rarely got the opportunity to explain his plans to an appreciative audience. Thor and his friends whined at what they saw as unnecessary steps in a scenario to get to their desired result of running at something and hitting it. His mother would pour guilt over him for showing more malice than she deemed necessary in describing his plan. Odin would always give off an air of faint disappointment, though it was hard to tell if it was over what Loki was saying, or just his general state of being where Loki was concerned.

"I am going to lure Laufey, king of the Frost Giants, here to Asgard, and then I shall kill him."

"Why?"

"Because he is the enemy."

"But why do you need to bring him here to kill him?"

"Because..." How to explain his reasoning to her, when he wasn't entirely sure he understood the swirling vortex of emotions himself? "If I attack and kill him on Jotunheim, I will be eliminating an enemy, yes. But if he comes here and then I kill him, I am preventing a threat to Odin's life. Odin has always treated me as lesser than Thor, and I believe that if I prove my loyalty, show that I am of Asgard, not of Jotunheim, then he may at last see my worth. I will be accepted, as I have always wished to be, and you shall be allowed to sit at my side."

He beamed at her, sure she would be pleased, but she looked thoughtful.

“It will also give me an excuse to attack Jotunheim and remove them as a threat forever.”

"But you said Asgard was at war with Jotunheim. Being at war means you're _supposed_ to attack the other one."

"Yes, but I am going to use the Bifrost itself as a weapon to destroy their whole world, and I think people might not like it if I just do that with no reason, even though we are at war."

"You're going to destroy their whole world?" She looked upset.

"Yes. They deserve it."

"Why?"

"Because they are monsters!"

"But I'm a monster."

"That's different."

"How?"

"It just is!"

"But _how_?"

He sighed. How could he get her to understand? The Frost Giants were monsters; she was just... unusual. "I cannot explain."

"Monsters are abominations that should be exterminated."

"Yes! Exactly!" Finally she understood!

"That's what mother said about me."

He slumped, feeling defeated. Unable to abandon the beliefs of a lifetime, he attempted to rally. "But you are a wonderful little girl, who is very pretty, and loving, and sweet. These are Frost Giants. They are ugly brutes who are all incapable of affection."

She'd moved closer to him during the conversation, and now she reached up and touched his cheek. He thought she was just trying to reassure him somehow, but he felt a shock as the illusion spell on him faded away. Flailing, he fell from his chair with a crash. Staggering to his feet, he found himself right in front of a mirror.

Hel joined him, clinging to his tunic. "I don't think you're ugly, father, and you’re very nice, and I know you love me."

“But everyone knows that frost giants are horrible monsters.”

"But everybody says I'm a horrible monster. Maybe everybody is just stupid?"

He wants to believe her, but looking down at his hands, he can see the hideous blue of his skin, and all he can think is, _monster, monster, monster_.

“But if this works, then Odin will accept you-”

"I don't care about Odin accepting me! He sounds horrible!"

"But it would mean we could all be together as a proper family, and… and…” But even as he said it, he knew that was a dream that would never be. A mirage that he’d chased his whole life, with increasing desperation as his target seemed to retreat from him ever further. No amount of spectacular heroics would give him the family he craved; showering him with affection, proud of his achievements, spoiling his daughter rotten.

Dimly he realises he has fallen to his knees, and that his cheeks are wet with tears. He reaches up to sweep them away, and his fingers brush up against the raised lines of his Jotun heritage. _Monster. Monster. You will never be anything more than a monster. Actually, you’re less than a monster – they abandoned you because weren’t even good enough to be that._

There is a Jotun right in front of him, staring back from the mirror. A monster wearing his own face, but not his face at the same time. With a roar of anger, he pushes himself to his feet and launches himself at the mirror, hitting it with both fists until it shatters into pieces. His magic lashes out, knocking furniture over and sending smaller items flying. Exhausted by his rage, he sinks back to the ground, heedless of the further cuts to his fingers and palms as he slides down the broken mirror, sobbing brokenly.

“Father?” a timid voice spoke. Followed by a sniffle. “I’m sorry, father. I didn’t mean to make you mad.”

Opening his eyes in shock, he turned to look. Hel was cowering against the wall, looking terrified. Of him. What had he done, and how could he have been so thoughtless and selfish? He truly was a monster.

Horrified by what he’d done, he reached out to her and pulled her close to him, placing his chin upon her head and stroking her hair.

“No! No, my darling! Shh, shh, I am not mad at you, not at all. And I am sorry for scaring you. I would never ever hurt you, I swear, and you have done nothing more than to tell me the truth, and you are a wonderful little girl for doing so, and I do not deserve you.” He swallowed, the tears threatening to return. “I am angry at Odin, at Laufey, but most of all at myself. But not you, and I am sorry that I made you think that I was angry at you. And sorrier still that I caused such destruction without considering that you could be harmed.”

He felt her nod against him, and she seemed to relax slightly, though she still shook a little. He rocked her to and fro, and made soothing sounds in her ear.

Looking into what was left of the mirror, he stared right into red eyes. The same red eyes that Hel had. He was what he was, and she was what she was. Nothing he could ever do would change that, and he’d already wasted so much of his life trying to do so, without even realising. Unable to look at himself, he closed his eyes and concentrated on returning to his ‘normal’ form. Once he felt he could stand up without falling, he picked her up and took her into the bedroom; he’d clear the mess up later.

Laying her on the bed, he noticed she was covered in blood. The sudden fear that overwhelmed him was replaced by relief when he realised that it was all his. He had a healing salve in his potions cabinet, but it could wait. The cuts weren’t so bad they needed immediate attention, and Hel was more important. He joined her on the bed, embracing her and trying his best to reassure her that she was loved and protected.

He fought to calm himself and consider matters properly.

No, he shouldn’t give in to rage. That wasn’t him. He would win this with words, his foremost weapon and his most derided skill. He would talk to Laufey. He would negotiate. He would weave a treaty of harsh penalties and vague concessions, and sell it to Jotunheim as the most wonderful of gifts. He would proudly announce to Asgard that the frost giants had been put in their place, and report to his parents that he had removed the threat and preserved the honour of the House of Odin, and done so without bloodshed.

As for the glory-hounds angry at the promise of war being snatched from them, well, there had to be some village somewhere with a bandit problem that he could send them off to, if only to have them kept busy and out of the way.

He would go today, rather than wait any longer and risk something going wrong – Odin awakening and demanding to know why he had done nothing, Thor coming back, Jotunheim actually attacking in some way.

Later, though. He wanted to make absolutely sure that he had properly reassured Hel. He would let her rest for a little while, then spend the afternoon playing with her and reading her stories. He would make certain that she knew that his anger had not been directed at her, that he would be much more careful in future at controlling himself, and that he did not want her to fear him or fear telling him things. And if something went wrong on Jotunheim, he wanted her last memories of him to be something other than him smashing a mirror and screaming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BTW [I have a Tumblr](http://sinistercinnamon.tumblr.com/), for those who want updates & crappy excuses for my procrastination.


	6. Chapter 6

The past day has been so amazing it was almost like a dream, but Hel knew it must be real because she could never have imagined such an incredible dream in her wildest imagination. One moment she had been hiding in a dark basement, hungry, in rags, and scared, with a mother who did not love her at all. The next she was living in a golden palace, with as much food as she wanted, beautiful clothes, and a father who loved her.

It wasn’t totally perfect. Her grandmother hadn’t been very nice at all, and her grandfather sounded horrible, and she’d seen people looking at her and whispering amongst themselves when they thought her father couldn’t see, and she knew they were not saying nice things at all. But that was alright; she had her father and he would look after her.

She wonders if there were children here anywhere, and if they would be less mean than the grownups. Maybe they would let her play with them? She’d seen other children playing together in the fields near her mother’s house, and wished more than anything that she could join in, but she was supposed to be a secret, and they would probably run away before she could tell them that she was friendly and could they please not tell anyone?

But the best thing of all hadn’t been in the palace at all; she had been to another realm! And not just any realm, but _Midgard_! She’d overheard people talking when her mother had had guests and thrown parties, and she knew that people hardly ever visited there and nobody had been there in ages.

And it had been so interesting! There’d been a really nice lady who had talked to her and said she was cute and told her about stars. And she’d had something called waffles which was like a cake but not. And there’d been a tiny music box that played strange songs just for her and nobody else. And strange materials and clothing and furniture and houses. And really bright lights that didn’t seem to be either torches or magic. And lots of sand and rocks but no grass or trees, which was so different to where she’d lived with her mother.

But Lady Jane had been the best of all. She hadn’t been mean at all, and hadn’t been scared of Hel. She really hoped her father would go back and visit, like Lady Jane had offered.

After getting back to Asgard, she’d spent the time drawing pictures while her father ruled Asgard. She thought he made an amazing king. He seemed worried about something though, and she asked what was wrong, hoping she could cheer him up. He tried to tell her he was tired, but she knew that wasn’t it, and he admitted he was worried about her. She didn’t want him to worry about her.

They go back to his rooms for lunch, which she is secretly happy about. People had been staring at her all morning, and she wasn’t used to people looking at her, so it felt really uncomfortable. It’s good to be away from that for a while. She shows him her pictures, and he tells her how amazing they are, and he means it. She’s so happy.

They eat lunch (Hel has bread and fruit and honeycakes and they are all delicious). Once she’s finished, she looks to her father, wondering what they’re going to do with the afternoon, and sees that he’s stopped eating. He looks like he’s thinking really hard, and is a little scared of what he’s thinking.

"What is the matter, father?" She doesn’t want him to worry. He’s the best father ever, and the best king ever, and she wants to be worthy of that. If she helps him, that would definitely make him proud of her!

He smiles at her, and tells her that he has a plan to deal with the Frost Giants, and it would prove to everyone that the both of them belonged here. That was good. But his plan confuses her. She doesn’t understand it, and the more he explains the less she understands and the more confused she feels.

He wants to bring the Frost Giant king to Asgard to kill him, so that he could attack Jotunheim, even though they were at war, which means that you’re supposed to attack them, because he thought that would make people like him if they saw he’d saved them. But he had told her all sorts of amazing stories of mighty deeds that he had done – about how he’d fought battles and saved people and slain monsters and got Uncle Thor out of trouble again and again, but none of it had made people be nice to him. And Hel had done everything her mother had asked her to, but it hadn’t made her mother like her, because Hel couldn’t not be a monster, and that’s what would make mother happy.

Then he says he is going to destroy their whole world, which sounds horrible. And just because they were monsters too. But she was a monster; did that mean he thought she should be destroyed? Father was a monster; did he think he should be destroyed?

She tries to get him to explain the difference between her and other monsters, but he can’t. Does being a monster make you bad? She doesn’t feel like she is a bad person. But everyone seems to think she is. Maybe they’re right? Maybe she is a bad person. Maybe she isn’t a person at all.

She remembers something her mother had said a lot. "Monsters are abominations that should be exterminated."

"Yes! Exactly!"

Her heart sinks. He agrees that she is a bad thing. She wants to cry.

"That's what mother said about me."

He slumps, looking sad. Then he looks at her pleadingly. "But you are a wonderful little girl, who is very pretty, and loving, and sweet. These are Frost Giants. They are ugly brutes who are all incapable of affection."

But he is a Frost Giant, and he loves her; he’d told her so and she knew it was true. And he isn’t ugly. And he’d told her she was pretty and he’d meant it. So they can’t all be like that, could they? Does he think they’re all like that? Does he think he is like that?

She strokes his face, wanting to comfort him, and the illusion on him fades. She thought at first he did it, but then he looks horrified and falls over onto the floor. He gets back up again, then he sees himself in the mirror, and stands still, looking horrified.

She hadn’t meant to break the spell! She’d just tried to make him happy, but she only made him feel worse. Maybe she _is_ a bad person. Trying to make him feel better, she clings to him. "I don't think you're ugly, father, and you’re very nice, and I know you love me."

He doesn’t even look at her. “But everyone knows that Frost Giants are horrible monsters.”

"But everybody says I'm a horrible monster. Maybe everybody is just stupid?"

He looks at his hands, but it’s like he’s not really looking at them. “But if this works, then Odin will accept you-”

Now _she_ felt a little bit angry. Why did he care what Odin thought? "I don't care about Odin accepting me! He sounds horrible!"

"But it would mean we could all be together as a proper family, and… and…” 

He falls back down again, onto his knees, like he couldn’t stand up anymore. He looks lost, and she is worried she has said something wrong. He starts to cry and reaches up to wipe the tears away. She wants to do the same, but she’s scared that touching his face again will make things worse.

Then he stares at the mirror again, and she feels something change in the air. It reminds her of when mother would get really really angry, and she finds herself backing away.

Suddenly he roars and launches himself at the mirror, hitting it over and over, smashing it into bits. Furniture falls over and smaller things go flying. A book nearly hits her. He is really really really angry, and it’s all her fault. She really is a bad person and everyone is right. She backs away, pressing herself against the wall.

And quickly as it began, it stops, and he collapses, looking tired. His hands are covered in blood; he’s hurt himself. All because of her.

She swallows her fear enough to speak. Maybe if she apologises enough, he’ll punish her less? “Father? I’m sorry, father. I didn’t mean to make you mad.”

He opens his eyes and turns to look at her. He looks shocked, like he’d forgotten she was there. Maybe she shouldn’t have said anything?

But then he reaches down and picks her up, and he’s hugging her and stroking her hair. “No! No, my darling! Shh, shh, I am not mad at you, not at all. And I am sorry for scaring you. I would never ever hurt you, I swear, and you have done nothing more than to tell me the truth, and you are a wonderful little girl for doing so, and I do not deserve you.” It sounds like he’s trying not to cry. “I am angry at Odin, at Laufey, but most of all at myself. But not you, and I am sorry that I made you think that I was angry at you. And sorrier still that I caused such destruction without considering that you could be harmed.”

He's telling the truth. She hasn’t been bad. He isn’t angry at her. He’s not going to punish her or send her away. Her voice won’t work, so she just nods, relieved. He rocks her and makes soothing noises in her ear for a little while, and she starts to feel calmer. She wants to make soothing noises for him too, because he’s still sad, but she can’t even make words that aren’t words, so she keeps hugging him.

After a long long time, he picks her up and carries her into the bedroom. He lays her down on the bed and lies down beside her, pulling her against him and hugging her more.

He’s not blue anymore. She wants to tell him that she’s sorry for breaking the spell. She wants to tell him that she doesn’t think he’s a bad person because he’s a monster. She wants to tell him the blue colour is nice, and she likes the patterns. She wants to tell him lots of things.

But maybe later. Not right now. Talking might ruin everything again. So she hugs him and hopes that is enough.

~~~~~

She wakes up, startled. She hadn’t meant to fall asleep. Then she notices father is no longer next to her. She shoots up, scared he’d left her while she slept. 

But no. There he is. He’s sitting up on the bed, leaning back against the pillows, writing something on a piece of paper resting on a book. At her movement, he looks over and smiles.

“Ah, you’re awake!” He smiles and holds an arm out, inviting her to snuggle up next to him, so she does. He doesn’t seem sad anymore, which is good. She looks at the paper, but she though she’s learned some of her letters a little, she can’t tell what it says.

She curls up next to him and watches him write. “What are you writing?”

“Just some ideas for dealing with Jotunheim. You are right in saying that to destroy them for being monsters makes me no better than the people who call you an abomination, and that it will not make Odin appreciate me or accept you, and I am not even sure I want those things anyway.” He sighs. “But I still must do something, and if I cannot decisively win a war, and shall at least attempt to create peace.”

“How?”

“Well, I need to offer them things and agree to do things that they’ll like. And I need to promise not to do things that they won’t like. If I don’t, then they won’t agree to any peace treaty. But, if I offer too many things that they’ll like, and not enough things they won’t like, then Asgard will refuse to abide by the terms and will go to war anyway just to avoid having to accept it. So I have to find a balance between the two.”

“That sounds hard.”

He laughs. “It is indeed. Can you think of anything?”

She thought really hard. “What if you gave the Casket back? Odin took it from them, didn’t he?”

“That is what they most want. But it is the thing that Asgard least wants them to have. Odin would be furious if I were to return it, and while normally I might relish causing trouble, I have to consider how any consequences of mischief-making might affect you and your standing.”

“What about you?”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s your father, isn’t he? Their king. Maybe he’ll be happy to have you back?”

He snorts. “I doubt it. He abandoned me!”

“Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe he didn’t mean to. Maybe Odin lied and you weren’t abandoned at all.”

He looks thoughtful. “Well that certainly sounds plausible.”

Sighing, he puts the paper aside. “I think that’s enough of that for now. How about I read you a story?”

He reads her lots of stories, and then they play some games and she practices reading a little more, and even some writing (she manages to write her own name, all by herself, with only a little help!). He tells her how clever she is, and she is happy that he is proud of her. She thinks maybe she fell asleep again too, because suddenly it’s dinner time.

While they’re waiting for the servant to bring their food, he tells her that he would be going to Jotunheim. She’s a little disappointed when he says he can’t bring her, but then he says she can stay on Midgard instead, and if it is alright with Jane, she might even be able to stay for the whole day, so that she wouldn’t have to sit around being bored while he was having lots of meetings and doing lots of paperwork to make sure the treaty was done properly.

Her father was going to fix everything, and she was going to explore Midgard. This was the best day ever. Except for maybe yesterday, when her father had come to collect her. Second best day ever!


	7. Chapter 7

Jane had been up most of the night, enthralled by the projection, but instead of feeling tired, she was energised. She was in the lab first thing, munching on toast while she looked at the notes she’d scribbled last night, trying to figure out ways to connect what Loki had told her with her own research.

She wondered where Thor had slept. Had Erik found him a room at hotel where he was staying? But he came down the stairs from the roof about an hour after she arrived, so she guessed he’d slept up there. She waved towards the coffee machine, not sure if he was the sort of person who appreciated anyone speaking to him before he’d properly woken up.

He frowned, looking at her properly and seeing Loki’s cloak draped over her shoulders. She’d wrapped herself in it to ward off the early morning chill, and though it had warmed up a little now, it was still hanging loosely from her shoulders. It felt comforting, somehow, a reminder of the person who had provided fresh insights and a completely different perspective on the work she had devoted her life to and gambled her reputation on.

But he made no comment on it, instead pouring himself a cup of coffee from the pot, grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl on the counter, and joining her at the table.

Though it did seem to her like he wanted to say something; he kept looking over at her and then away again and frowning as if turning something over in his mind. Though whether it was about her choice of wrap or not, she had no idea. He’d just opened his mouth and taken a deep breath, about to speak, when Darcy breezed in.

“Please tell me there’s coffee? This is way too early to be up!”

Jane grinned. “There’s some still in the pot, I think. And why are you up? It was a long day yesterday and I thought you’d take the chance for a lie-in.”

“You kidding me? What if more hot guys fall from the sky? I don’t wanna risk missing anything.”

She poured herself a cup, spooned enough sugar in that Jane thought the spoon might stand upright by itself, and poked around in the cupboards until she found a box of Pop Tarts.

Sitting down at the table next to Jane, she pulled a foil-wrapped pack out, and then slid the box down the table toward Thor. “Here you go, man. That apple ain’t gonna be enough for you.”

He took the box and nodded at her. “My thanks.”

“No problem.”

Erik showed up at that point, looking haggard. He grunted and nodded as he passed them, and went to root around in the drawer where they stored the first aid supplies. Darcy leaned over and whispered in Jane’s ear. “He hit the bar after you went to bed last night. I guess he didn’t stop at just one.”

Having found the aspirin, he knocked a few back and made his way over to the kitchen, setting about – slowly and gingerly - cooking breakfast.

Thor had pretty much inhaled the Pop Tarts (and the apple), finished his coffee, and was now on his second cup. A better time to talk, then. Though she was sure this wasn’t going to be a fun conversation no matter how much caffeine they’d fortified themselves with.

“OK, Thor, do you have any plans?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” she hesitated. This was a whole bunch of sore subjects and she didn’t want to insult him. “Your plan to retrieve the hammer-”

“Mjolnir.”

“Yeah, that. It kinda went… wrong? So, what’s your next step?”

He sighed, staring into his cup as if there’d be answers in there. “I must admit I do not know. I feel adrift without Mjolnir.”

“Well, I asked Loki, and he said that when your dad threw the hammer down after you, he muttered something about possessing the powers of Thor if they're worthy. So maybe if you do something to prove your worth, you'll get your hammer back?"

"But surely he knows my worth?" wailed Thor.

"Sometimes that's not enough though; you've got to prove it."

"But how?"

"I think a mighty quest, or slaying a monster, or whatever, is sort of traditional," suggested Darcy.

Thor was quiet, but it seemed like it was a thoughtful kind of quiet, so she hoped that was a good sign. Onto the next problem…

“OK. We should probably find you a place to stay in the meantime.” He looked affronted, and she quickly moved to explain. “Not that we want to get rid of you, but, well, you can’t stay here - it can’t be ideal just sleeping on the roof of the lab, and there isn’t anything around to keep you occupied, which isn’t going to help any feelings of having no direction. And my research is so poorly funded I can barely afford to feed me and Darcy. It’s not an ideal place to figure out your life, especially with SHIELD sniffing around.”

As if on cue, they were interrupted by the return of SHIELD, though for some reason, the black SUV was blasting _Men in Black_ at full volume, which seemed a bit on the nose for them. Maybe they were going for the ‘hiding in plain sight’ strategy. The song cut out when the engine stopped (to the obvious relief of Erik), and Agent Coulson jumped out looking harried.

"Miss Foster, do you have any explanation for why all our equipment is misbehaving?"

"It's Dr Foster, and I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Everybody working at the site found their cell phone ringtones changed to _Banana Phone_. All screens display nothing but the Nicolas Cage version of _The Wicker Man_ on a loop. Our vehicles all play Will Smith’s _Men in Black_ continuously while running, even the ones without a radio or CD player; there is no way to adjust the volume and the only way to stop the music is to shut off the engine. One of our agents opened a filing box obtained from your lab, and large snakes burst out, hissed at him, and then slithered off into the desert; the next one was full of spiders. My agents have refused to open the others without a full strike team on hand. And any listening devices we set up pick up nothing but whale song. So, explanation?"

"Honestly, Agent. No idea. I work in astrophysics, so you're harassing the wrong type of scientist for this. I'm not even sure what type you'd need to harass to fix this, but it's not me, that's for sure."

He looked annoyed, but their looks of surprise (and barely hidden amusement) were convincing, and he eventually jumped back in the SUV and drove into town - probably in the hope of a hire car being immune. Her van was still out in the desert, and she wondered if it was also affected, or if they just hadn’t found it.

After the sounds of _Men in Black_ had faded into the distance, Darcy looked at Jane with a serious expression, and said firmly, "Jane, marry this guy."

Thor shook his head. “My brother should not be lowering himself to such pranks. It is unbefitting to someone bearing the title of King of Asgard.”

Jane nearly choked on her coffee. "Wait, he's _king_?! Oh god! He was probably totally busy and I was wasting his time! I can't believe I didn't realise! He said your father was in some kind of magical coma, and he didn't mention any other brothers or sisters..." Oh god had she insulted him somehow? There was probably all sorts of protocol she'd ignored!

Darcy grinned. “Queen Jane has a nice ring to it.”

Jane didn’t even bother with a response, just gave her intern a withering glare. Well she hoped it looked withering anyway, but it didn’t seem to have any effect.

They tried to figure out where they could send Thor. Erik muttered that he just wanted him gone, but Jane felt a little bit responsible. Plus, he was a prince. If he got killed, it could kick off some kind of intergalactic incident.

“The only one I can think of who can definitely help is Tony Stark. Maybe we can trick SHIELD into calling him in, or something?”

“I have a friend who interns for a senator who was on that committee that investigated him recently,” Darcy suggested. “I can ask her. I doubt she’ll have his actual number, but maybe she’ll have contact details for his assistant's assistant's secretary's underling or whatever, or can get us an in of some kind.”

“Worth a try, I guess. But why didn’t you mention this yesterday?!”

“Yesterday we ran over a good-looking hobo who apparently got picked up and dropped by a tornado and a bunch of government goons confiscated our stuff. It was crappy, and pretty weird, but it didn’t seem like a superhero situation until we found out he really is the God of Thunder.”

Thor chimed in. "And this Tony Stark will be able to help me?"

"Hopefully. He has a lot of influence in this realm, and he's a - how would you put it? - mighty warrior of great renown? He's almost certainly tangled with SHIELD, so he'll probably know just who to talk to to get them to back off, he'll also be able to get hold of documents enabling you to live and work here, so you won't have to rely on other people while you figure out what to do next."

He didn’t look exactly happy, but he nodded in acceptance. He sat back and looked out the window as Jane and Darcy began discussing how best to approach her friend (if they told her everything she’d assume it was a prank, but she was hardly going to give out contact information for one of the most powerful people on the planet without a really good reason), how to approach Stark if they did manage to find a way of contacting him (same dilemma, with the added complication of trying not to end up a tongue-tied mess), and when they should go about it (Jane wanted to do it right now, but Darcy pointed out that her friend would be at work, and if you were going to ask someone for a favour that they could get fired over, it was best to wait until they were at home). Erik looked a lot more cheerful now that the painkillers had kicked in and the prospect of Thor (and SHIELD) being out of their hair had been discussed, and added his own suggestions here and there.

After several minutes of brooding, he got up and headed for the stairs to the roof. She felt a little bad for him, and wanted to say something to reassure him, but let him go. She’d give him some space for a few minutes, and then go up to talk with him, explain exactly why Stark would be better placed to help him than they were, that they weren’t just kicking him out and he was totally welcome to visit at any time, and maybe even discuss a few ideas for how he might prove himself worthy. Or even just talk about nothing in particular, sharing stories and enjoying the view, to remind him that he wasn’t alone.

Just then, someone knocked on the door. She turned to see Loki and Hel standing there. Hel was grinning and waving madly.

Not expecting to see them here, she was momentarily frozen. The crash of Erik’s mug on the floor brought her back to herself, and she dashed forward to open the doors.

“Loki! Hel! I didn’t expect to see you guys again so soon! Did you want to talk to Thor? He’s up on the roof; I’ll just go get him.”

She turned to head towards the stairs, but he held up a hand to stop her. “No, it is you I came to see, actually.”

She could practically _feel_ Darcy’s smirk. “Really?”

“Yes, I hope I am not imposing on you in asking this, but I need a favour.”

“Uh, sure.”

“You see, I have to visit Jotunheim to renegotiate the peace that my brother broke in his blunderings, and I obviously cannot bring Hel, but I do not feel safe leaving her behind on Asgard. She greatly enjoyed the time spent here, and you have shown great kindness to her. So I was hoping you could watch her for the day, to give me some time to arrange things? I understand this may be unreasonable of me, but...”

“No, no! No problem! It’s fine! Of course I’ll look after her!”

“Thank you.”

Hel began jumping up and down again with excitement. “Yay! I get to explore Midgard some more!” She stopped and looked up at Jane. “Can we have more waffles?”

Jane laughed. “Maybe later. We’ve only just had breakfast, and I bet so have you.”

“We have indeed just eaten, though in our case it was an evening meal; it is not the same time here as it is in Asgard.”

“So this is night time for her?”

“Yes, so if she needs to sleep, you should let her. Though she napped for most of the afternoon, so she may not be too tired.”

Realising she was still wearing his cloak, she went to pull it off. “You’ll probably be wanting this back.”

He stopped her, draping it back over her shoulders, fastening it in place with a pin that he definitely not been holding before. “No, keep it. I have others, and it looks good on you.”

She blushed and stammered her thanks. Scrambling for something to say to cover her embarrassment, she blurted out, “Oh, by the way thanks for the...” she waved her arms, unable to exactly describe the projection. Smooth, Jane.

He smiled. “I am glad you liked it.”

Darcy chose that moment to rescue her, looking at Hel. “Hey there. So you’re the one who was playing with my iPod?”

She nodded nervously, then at a nudge from her dad, said, “Thank you for letting me borrow it.”

“Hey no problem. Better you than those SHIELD bozos.”

“I shall take my leave of you then.” He inclined his head, then stepped back and vanished.

“Holy shit, did he just disappear? Wow.”

Hel was looking around the lab curiously.

“What are we gonna do to keep a kid occupied all day?” she whispered furiously to Darcy. “It’s not like we can let her go outside. We still have a TV, but it just feels seriously lazy to just sit her down in front of it and watch whatever. Are there even any children’s shows on?”

“Lemme think. OK, you take my iPod, and have her play around a little with that. I’ll go to the library and grab anything that looks good. I’ll swing by the store too and get a selection of food. We need to stock up anyway – that was the last box of Pop Tarts. I think the thrift store has a toy section, so I’ll have a look through there if I have time. Sound good?”

“OK, fine. Careful you don’t run into SHIELD. It sounds like we’re on their shitlist right now.”

“I’ll be like a ninja.” She crouched down, hunching her shoulders and jerking her head to look quickly to and fro, before shuffling forward in a pretence at stealth, glaring fiercely all around her. Then she straightened up and grinned back at Jane. “Don’t worry, boss lady. I got this.”

Jane rolled her eyes at her intern’s antics, and went back inside.

Hel had was sitting on the couch, listening to music, and looking around her at everything with obvious curiosity. She picked up a magazine with the hand not occupied with holding the earbud to her withered ear, and examined it.

Erik didn’t look exactly happy with the situation, but he wasn’t outright hostile. It looked more like shock than anything, and maybe the lingering effects of his hangover, so hopefully he wasn’t about to demand Hel leave town too. She understood his reservations about Thor, even if she didn’t agree with them, but Hel was just a kid.

She’d planned to spend the day trying to adapt her theories to incorporate what she’d learned from Loki, but it looked like that’d have to wait. On the plus side, it looked like she’d have another chance to talk to Loki and gather even more data. She had a duty to science to learn as much from him as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise to anyone who has _Banana Phone_ stuck in their head now. [I know it can have serious effects.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqWwsUhrFBw)


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Sorry for the extended hiatus guys! But it's pretty much done now. Two more chapters to go (maybe three, if the last chapter turns out longer than planned or I add an epilogue), & the next one is already written & just awaiting editing.

The Bifrost set him down in the desolate wastes of Jotunheim, a short walk from the ruins of the palace where Laufey held court. He could have travelled the secret paths, of course, but this was an official visit, and sneaking in looked suspicious. The place did not seem particularly cold to him; he wondered if that was unique to his heritage, or if the conditions of the realm were overstated – he had never really felt the cold, and his companions hadn’t seemed too bothered on their last visit, but that might have been bravado.

However this went, it was nice to know that Hel was safe and enjoying herself. It would do her good to be away from the tense atmosphere of Asgard. Jane had been happy to see her, and he was pleased to note that her assistant had seemed curious but friendly, rather than hostile. The old man hovering in the background had seemed slightly perturbed, but not particularly horrified or disgusted.

If mortals, with all their superstition, could accept her, it gave him hope that she could be accepted on Asgard too. All the more reason to show himself to be an asset to Asgard by negotiating a favourable treaty.

Laufey seemed to be alone, aside from a few guards, though Loki was sure there was a horde of Jotun lurking nearby. Likely the only reason Laufey had banished them out of sight was because he had sighted Gungnir, and recognised that this wasn’t merely another incursion, but something more official, necessitating a pretence of civility. Shafts of light coming through holes in the ceiling were all that illuminated the darkness.

Approaching the throne, he inclined his head in a gesture of respect. “Greetings, King Laufey.”

The Jotun snarled. “I should kill you, for all that you carry the accoutrements of a King of Asgard. Don’t tell me that Odin has died an ignominious death off the battlefield?”

“I thank you for your concern, but he is still very much alive. Merely in the Odinsleep. As Thor was banished as a result of his impulsive actions towards this realm, he was unable to take up the role of king, so that burden has fallen to me, at least until Odin wakes.” He came to a stop in front of the throne, resting Gungnir in the snow. “I thought we might discuss how we may avert war between our realms, as it is something that neither of us want.”

“You think I do not desire war?” Laufey snarled.

“You do not. You desire the humiliation of Asgard, and war would simply be a means of achieving that. But we both know that its price is too high to be worth the reward.”

Not that Laufey would ever admit as such, not out loud anyway. He’d given Thor a chance to leave, knowing full well that Jotunheim could not afford a war, but as soon as battle had been drawn, and Odin stepped in to defend his son from the consequences of his actions, then the point of no return was passed, and Laufey would look weak if he had stood by and meekly accepted it.

And now, no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn’t go back on his word. He wanted peace even more than Loki did, but he would argue every point and resist every concession. Because if he did not, a war between realms would be replaced with an equally destructive civil war, as Jotunheim overthrew what it saw as a weak king, and then tore itself apart in its efforts to establish a successor.

And if that happened, there was every chance that Odin would install him as a puppet king amidst the chaos, and even if Loki escaped that fate, he would spend his life dodging assignation attempts, as other candidates vied to make sure that the line of Laufey was well and truly eradicated. Neither future appealed to him.

“No price is too great to see Asgardians dead at our feet! However, I will do you the courtesy of listening to your words.” As expected, the last part was said in a tone that suggested Laufey was doing a great favour in allowing Loki a chance to talk. It was a ridiculous play, but Loki was skilled enough in diplomacy to know better than to comment.

He hoped it wouldn’t take too long. He was already developing a crick in his neck, and was half tempted to reveal his heritage in the hopes that Laufey would teach him that trick with creating an ice platform that he had used to confront Odin.

“Thank you. Well there are several things Asgard can offer. Perhaps help with rebuilding? There seem to be a lot of ruins here.” Idly he wondered why there’d been no efforts to rebuild. There was plenty of stone around, and plenty of Frost Giants to mine and move it. Even having lost many in the war, and possible difficulties in obtaining good quality building materials (as far as he was concerned, stone was stone, but he knew well enough that builders could be more discerning), you’d think there would have been _some_ attempts to rebuild the palace, or even just Laufey’s throne room.

Maybe they needed tools, materials, or knowledge of construction techniques that could not be found on Jotunheim? “Perhaps the opportunity to travel between realms. I can show you some of the hidden pathways. I’m sure those would be invaluable for trade.”

Unfortunately, Laufey was smart enough to draw the obvious conclusion from that offer, and his expression of bored contempt transformed into seething rage. “So you’re the one who showed us the way into Asgard? I should kill you; my men are dead because of you!”

“No, I opened a path into Asgard and told a group of Frost Giants about it, and if they were too foolish to anticipate the Casket would be guarded, then that is not my problem! I just wanted a calamity to occur on my brother’s big day, to demonstrate that he wasn’t ready and to give Odin a chance to rethink matters, to wait for him to mature a little before giving him the throne,” he snapped.

He clenched his fists and glared at Laufey, trying to rein in his temper. He’d already said far too much. Taking a deep breath, he continued, in a calmer tone. “You saw what he did on his little visit. Now imagine how much worse it would have been if he’d been King, with the armies of Asgard at his command.”

Laufey said nothing, but his scowl and narrowed eyes were answer enough.

Loki shrugged and did his best to compose himself after his lapse. “I gave your men an opportunity. What they did with it was up to them. Hopefully, Jotunheim would make better use of the pathways in future.”

“Yet my men are dead, and I have no Casket. You are a deceiver!” Laufey snarled and lunged forward, grabbing Loki by the throat before he could move away.

Standing his ground, and not flinching, he smirked. “You have no idea what I am.”

“How dare-” Laufey froze, seeing the blueness spreading over Loki's skin.

Loki held his head high and stared him down as defiantly as he could. “Hello, father.”

He released Loki, sitting back and watching as the blueness faded. “So, the bastard son. I thought Odin had killed you. I would have.”

Loki felt a flash of anger. “Surely that is what you tried to do by leaving me there.”

“You would not have survived anyway.”

“Yet I did.”

“Yes, you did, but would you have survived here, in an unforgiving land stripped of everything valuable by the Asgardians?” He sneered. “No, I did you a kindness. And if you had survived then it would have demonstrated that you had the necessary will to be worth feeding.”

“Well, this reunion has been touching, but we still have business to conduct.”

“You still wish to negotiate on behalf of Asgard, even though you are one of us?”

It took all his skills to not recoil in horror, but even he couldn’t keep the disgust entirely off his face. He covered it up with the other emotion he felt in response to being so easily counted as one of them: anger.

“Do not pretend we share a bond because we are blood kin. You admit you discarded me, and now you wish to claim kinship because I am suddenly useful to you? I am not your tool.”

“Yet you side quite happily with Odin. And why did he take you? Sentimentality? Mercy? No. He took you to use as a pawn. But he never ended up needing to use you, since he made such a thorough effort at subduing us. And now you are in the one place he never intended you to be: on the throne of Asgard. But still you are his puppet.”

Laufey grinned wolfishly, seeing Loki’s flinch. “You know it to be true.”

“I am not Odin’s puppet! And I will not be yours either!” Loki snarled. “Whatever he may or may not have intended, I _am_ on the throne of Asgard, and as such it is my duty to deal with the consequences of Thor’s blunderings. I wish to avert a war, and it was my own decision to come here and negotiate, and I will do so. Now, as I was saying, I am willing to offer the location of hidden pathways, so that Jotunheim can properly conduct trade.”

Allowing the change of subject, Laufey smirked. “You do not fear we may try to conquer Midgard again?”

“For a start, any treaty would be conditional on you not invading anywhere. And besides, I’ve visited Midgard recently, and the mortals have advanced considerably since your invasion attempt, and have better weapons at their disposal. They would not be such easy prey.” He had absolutely no idea if they did have any weapons capable of dealing with Frost Giants, but let Laufey believe that they did…

Remembering something Jane had mentioned during their talk, he added, “And I do believe they’re having problems with their realm heating up and icy regions melting. Perhaps you can aid them with that? Form a mutually beneficial partnership over resources without recourse to violence?”

He was getting on shakier and shakier ground. He had no authority to speak for Midgard, and no idea how he could go about negotiating an agreement with their co-operation. Though, hadn’t Jane’s assistant mentioned studying politics? She could be a useful contact.

Mentally going through his list of other concessions, he threw out, “I think an apology from Thor is also in order.” It didn’t even matter whether or not Thor was sorry; Loki could mimic his handwriting easily enough. And if the Frost Gaints demanded an apology in person, well, he could mimic _Thor_. “It hardly makes up for what happened, but is an important gesture.”

“I care not whether he apologises,” Laufey sneered.

“I realise that, but I feel it is something that should be offered.” He cocked his head. “Perhaps you have any better ideas?”

_Please don’t say the Casket. Please don’t say the Casket. Please don’t say the Casket._

“We demand the return of the Casket. We will accept nothing less!”

_Damn._

His plan required Laufey to be smart enough to know he would never have a chance of getting the Casket and to ask for something more within his grasp that would be seen by the Frost Giants as a suitable prize. But it seemed his pride had overcome his good sense. Either that or there were rumblings of discontent amongst the Frost Giants and political manoeuvrings were afoot, and Laufey had less to lose than Loki thought. Or perhaps he was stupid enough that Loki would hand over the Casket because of some kind of family loyalty.

“You could. But Odin would never allow it, and doing so would likely result in me being executed, and all things done during my brief rule would be invalid. You would have to renegotiate again. Ask yourself, would you rather deal with Odin or with me?”

Laufey threw back his head and roared. “It is ours by right! It is the very heart of our realm, not some trinket to sit in Odin’s vault for him to look at!”

 _Except, it’s not in the vault…_ Suddenly, Loki had an idea. A really terrible idea, but it didn’t look as if he had a great deal of options. “How about a compromise, of sorts?”

Laufey growled down at him. “There can be no compromise! It is either in my possession, or Odin’s!”

“But… what if there were a third option?” He gestured with his hands, and the Casket appeared in his grasp. Laufey leaned forward, reaching for it, an almost yearning look on his face, and he focused on that to try to ignore the transformation taking place. “As you can see, right now, I have the Casket.”

He made another gesture, and the Casket disappeared once more. “And before you think of trying anything, killing me would render anything I am carrying unreachable. The Casket would be lost to you forever.”

Laufey snarled in frustration. “Why not simply give us the Casket? I do not see how this is better for us than having it in Asgard’s vault.”

“It is simple. As far as Asgard is concerned, the Casket is still in the vault, and if Odin asks Heimdall to turn his gaze upon Jotunheim, he will not see it here. Meanwhile, you can truthfully tell your subjects that it is in the possession of a Jotun.” He swallowed down the bile that tried to rise in his throat; it wasn’t as if it was the first lie he’d ever told which he’d found abhorrent. “I can even sneak in using the hidden pathways, and cloak myself from Heimdall, in order to use the Casket, whenever necessary.”

Of course, Loki would do anything he could to avoid these visits, and he should probably put the Casket back in the vault as soon as he could, because Odin would surely check, and he wasn’t sure what had possessed him to take it in the first place. But those were problems for later. Right now he just needed to secure a peace accord and get out of this Norns-forsaken realm with all his limbs attached.

He looked up at Laufey, who appeared thoughtful. “You will not get a better deal.”

Finally, the answer came. “I accept.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of the dialogue between Loki & Laufey where Laufey finds out who Loki is borrowed from the original version of their conversation in _Thor_ that didn't make it into the film.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short chapter for now, giving Thor's POV.

Thor was angry. His brother had refused to lift a hand to help him, but had deigned to return Jane's notebook and Darcy's 'eye pod', and had spent time talking to Jane! Worst of all, he had brought his monstrous get to live in the palace! This could only be a sign that he meant to seize power for himself - Loki did nothing without planning (Norns knew he was always yelling at Thor for ignoring plans), so he must be either certain that Odin would approve once he woke, or was going to ensure Odin never woke. The former seemed impossible to Thor (what could Loki hope to achieve that would cause anyone to accept the monster?), so he must surely have some nefarious plan afoot.

His thoughts raced on - Laufey had said there were traitors in the House of Odin. At the time, he'd dismissed it as a cowardly attempt to besmirch Asgard's honour, but what if it had been true? Loki did know the hidden paths between realms. What if this whole thing had started so that Loki could seize power? Now it had occurred to him, he could imagine it all too clearly. Loki making a deal with monsters to invade Asgard, overthrow the Allfather, and install him as a puppet king, so he could have power he was obviously not worthy of, and so his monstrous children could be allowed to run amok.

And when the attempt to snatch the Casket failed and Thor had foiled his plan by going to Jotunheim and confronting the monsters, he stood there and allowed Odin to banish him knowing that this would remove an obstacle to his plans. From there he only had to eliminate Odin - all too easy now he was in the Sleep.

A small part of him reminded him that Loki was his brother, and this was beyond his usual behaviours. Loki had always been fond of causing chaos, and could be spiteful when the mood took him, but this was something else. Surely he wasn’t capable of something like this?

Perhaps it was that half-dead monster? Perhaps she'd bewitched him? Before he accused his brother, he should consider he might not be in his right mind. If so, it seemed to have ensnared Jane as well, and humans were much more superstitious and wary of anything outside their normal experience. He could picture it: The creature wanting to escape the prison its mother had quite rightly kept her in, casting its baleful influence over Loki in order to secure its release, tempting him with power. That could be gained by betraying Asgard. And after coming to see a monster as kin, working with the Frost Giants would not seem quite so abhorrent…

He sat there for hours as the sun moved overhead, as he had done the night before under the stars, though the skies may well have been empty for all he noticed, brooding and stewing in his own bad mood, mind swirling with thoughts, desperately searching for answers.

When Loki had appeared before him, he had been relieved, certain that his father had seen that Thor was right and relented, and Loki was here to bring him home where he belonged, always there to help him out of trouble. But he had simply relayed the news that father was in the Odinsleep, and Loki himself had taken the position Thor felt was his. Not only that, but he had refused to use his new position to bring Thor back to his rightful place (of course he had refused - Thor would supplant him and destroy the Jotuns, which would ruin whatever dark alliance Loki had planned with them) so he could prove himself to father by defending the realm against the Jotun threat. The fact that he'd only come to verify Mjolnir's safety and not concern for Thor stung.

Then he had simply turned his back on his brother and vanished. And to add insult to injury, Jane had gone off with him, abandoning Thor at the first instance. It was just as well the mortals had let him go free. Nobody cared to help. How dare they all abandon him? And now they wanted rid of him!

All because of Loki. Loki, who was mother’s favourite. Loki, who their tutors showered with praise. Loki, who was forever criticising him ( _‘Thor, you nearly got your friends killed – if I hadn’t seen and cast that spell to cover them, then-!’_ _‘Thor, you nearly triggered a war by insulting that dwarf’s wife! You’re lucky I was able to talk him into-!’_ ). Loki, who was privy to all sorts of secrets from his diplomatic missions which he refused to share. Loki, who could persuade people to do anything. Loki, whose skill with a blade far outmatched his. Loki, whose skills in the bedchamber supposedly also outmatched his, according to a pair of women he had once overheard who had slept with both the princes (one had even declared that Loki was almost worth the monsters!). Loki, who was now king instead of Thor.

He had been devastated at Mjolnir failing to respond to him, and crushed by his brother’s rejection, but the despondency had long since evolved into anger over the course of a long night sat upon a roof, unable to sleep. And then going down into the lab, intending to warn Jane, to properly explain to her that getting involved with his brother was a bad idea, that just because a monster resembled a child, she should not allow it to bewitch her...

But he had missed his opportunity, and instead found himself ambushed by a clear attempt to get rid of him. Oh, they claimed that this Tony Stark could help him, but how could he help Thor find his way back to Asgard? Of course he couldn’t; they’d given him up as a lost cause, and were passing him off to somebody else in order for him to learn to accept that.

He looked around him at the dry, dull buildings, and couldn’t believe that he had been brought so low, he, who had been on the verge of being crowned King of Asgard and Protector of the Nine Realms! Yet here he was in this desolate place, with nothing.

If only he knew what he was supposed to _do_!

The Lady Darcy’s words came back to him then. _"I think a mighty quest, or slaying a monster, or whatever, is sort of traditional."_

Slaying a monster. That was it! Odin had sought to eradicate Loki’s cursed, monstrous offspring, but he had failed in this case. If Thor could succeed in this task, which even the Allfather had been unable to fulfil, then he would surely be worthy.

A small voice deep in a corner of his mind spoke up, pointing out that she was only a child, and hardly a significant opponent… But that was the creature’s power, wasn’t it? To appear innocent. It surely had powerful magic and was far more than it seemed. He should not fall for its tricks.

The only problem was that the creature was on Asgard, while Thor was stuck on Midgard. He slumped. Just when he thought he might have found a way back, the solution was as far out of his reach as Mjolnir was.

Just at that moment, Darcy’s head appeared over the edge of the roof. “Hey, big guy, you hungry? We’re rustling up a feast of Earth foods for your niece. She is just the cutest.”

“Actually, I am-” He stopped, as her words sunk in. “She is here?”

“Yeah, your brother stopped by this morning and dropped her off. Something about having to go visit Yoyohider or something.”

“Jotunheim.”

“Yeah, that’s the one. I thought you knew. Didn't you come downstairs all day?”

“I have not, I’m sorry. My mind has been… elsewhere.”

“Ah, no biggie. Anyway, he was in kind of a hurry so he didn’t stop to chat, but he’ll be back later, obviously, so you can catch him then. So, anyway, food preferences?”

“I’m sure whatever you think is suitable would be an excellent choice.”

She disappeared again with a wave of acknowledgement, but Thor barely noticed her leave. The monster was here. Right here. And now it seemed that it had ensnared Darcy - and probably Erik as well.

There was something else too. Loki had gone to Jotunheim. Why? They were at war – the only reason to go there was with an army. And surely if Loki was leaving for battle he would not have said he would be back later – even if he was confident he would survive, battles could go on for days. No, something more sinister was going on. His brother really was a traitor.

Thor had to act.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, sorry about that, guys. I did not expect to take this long. After all, I had huge chunks of it already written & knew where the fic was going. But I still managed to get major block, & life kept getting in the way, & anybody who has ever tried to write anything knows that the longer it's been, the harder it is to get back into the swing of a story again. And it didn't help that there were a lot of pieces to move into place for a chapter which was basically 'shit goes down & there's a fight' - do I include Sif & the Warriors 3? what about the Destroyer? which POV fo I use for which scenes? how much of the action takes place on Asgard & how much on Midgard? how much of a role should Odin play here? & so on, & each of those things had a knock-on effect on everything else.
> 
> But now it's done! Split into two chapters (plus an epilogue). The next chapter should be up imminently, which the epilogue up sometime this weekend.

As the Bifrost deposited him back in Asgard, Loki finally breathed a sigh of relief. He’d been balancing on a knife edge the whole time he was negotiating, with one wrong word spelling his death, and even after he had left Laufey’s court and headed to the Bifrost site, he’d been unable to relax, unsure if Laufey might change his mind and attack him. 

It was hardly the first time he’d had to spin a tale in tense circumstances with terrible consequences for failure. But normally it was just to get him and Thor, or one of their friends, out of trouble. And normally the lie only had to stand for as long as it would take for them to get away in one piece – or at least have a head start on any pursuers. 

Here, the whole of Asgard was at stake, and he had to be able to make good on his words. Or at least seem to, anyway. He had no intention of sticking to the agreement as far as the Casket and his being some kind of emissary or go-between for Jotunheim was concerned. But that was going to be complicated to avoid… 

He gave another sigh, this one much less relieved. If he truly was King of Asgard, this would be simple: promise Laufey everything, and then dodge, prevaricate and generally weasel out of fulfilling any terms he found objectionable or onerous, waving the Casket under Laufey’s nose any time he started questioning Loki’s commitment to their bargain. But he wasn’t King. Odin would wake, and then Loki would have to justify his actions to two Kings, both of whom were his father, and neither could he please. 

Odin would not be happy he had removed the Casket from the vault (Why had he done that? What had he been thinking?), and if he ever suspected that Loki had led the Frost Giants into Asgard, he would assume nefarious purpose to its removal. He should put the Casket back immediately! 

Of course, there was a good chance that Odin would content himself with a mere glance at the Casket, and be more concerned with investigating the path opened in the vault (if he even still intended to do that – Thor’s blunderings and Laufey’s declaration of war had made that small matter irrelevant – the treaty had been broken and the question of who had invaded who were semantics). There was also a chance that he might approve of Loki’s compromise. Odin was so disapproving of him, though, that he found it hard to imagine him being appreciative of this. 

On the other hand, while he could do his best to weasel out of his commitments, he would need to at least show up there once and do some kind of demonstration, possibly a few. He could wriggle and delay and play for time long enough to come up with some better, more permanent solution, but if he didn’t show up at all, Laufey would immediately get suspicious. And if he put the Casket back in the vault, he couldn’t guarantee he’d be able to retrieve it when needed. 

Although, he was fairly sure Odin would approve of Loki being some sort of go-between. It was pretty much his intention behind taking in Loki in the first place, after all. In light of a group of Frost Giants penetrating the vault by means of a portal while avoiding Heimdall’s gaze – two of his specialties – he would need to tread carefully to avoid suspicion, but a decent amount of grousing at his new positionanda big show of reluctance at having to deal with monsters (he wouldn’t even have to act that much). 

Perhaps he could also come up with ideas for new security measures for the palace? Put on a display of helpfulness to prevent another invasion? 

An idea came to him then. Hide the Casket in a safe place, but one he could guarantee that he had access to. That way he could get to it if he needed to, but if Odin noticed the Casket was an illusion, he could whisk out the real one and claim that it was a security measure to prevent another theft attempt. If Odin questioned why Loki had not told him, he could excuse himself by saying that he had forgotten, or he was scared of spies – Laufey had claimed Asgard harboured a traitor in its midst, after all! 

He breathed out slowly. There was a way forward. He had not quite negotiated himself into a corner just yet. There were several obvious flaws to his course of action, but there was some room to manoeuvre. He could keep ahead of this, if he was careful. 

Heimdall interrupted his thoughts, breaking the silence. “I turned my gaze to Jotunheim, but I could not see you.” 

“Your gaze is not as all-seeing as you might hope. I’ve been able to hide myself from you for years. I should be insulted it’s taken you this long to notice, as it suggests how little you think of me.” A sudden inspiration sprang up in his mind. “And clearly I am not the only person so gifted, if Frost Giants can slip your watch.” 

“Perhaps it is a Jotun ability.” 

Loki froze, feeling as if he had been slapped in the face. Casting about for something to throw back at the guardian, he said the first thing that came to mind, something that had been seething in the bottom of his mind since Thor was banished. “I am amazed that you still have a job, considering the treason you committed.” 

“Treason, I?” 

“Yes, you! Odin ordered no action be taken until he had investigated the breach. He declared that he would not regard the peace as broken until he had established whether it was an incursion sanctioned by Laufey. Yet straight away you gave Thor passage to Jotunheim. Thor has his strengths, but they do not lie in diplomacy. Whether or not he could obtain answers, there was no way his confrontation of Laufey was not going to inflame the situation, and it is a miracle nobody died. 

“You wish to know why I hide myself from you? Well, consider perhaps that I distrust you as much as you distrust me.” 

Heimdall said nothing, and not wishing to tempt fate, Loki hastened away down the bridge. He was not sure he really wanted to know Heimdall’s reasons for anything that he thought or did. 

Tempted as he was to collect Hel straight away now that he was back, he decided that he would leave it for a bit. She was surely enjoying herself. He would write up a report of the negotiations for Odin while it was fresh in his mind. Perhaps complete a few other tasks as well. And now that the tension from the last few hours was wearing off, it was being replaced by exhaustion. 

Yes, he would collect her in the morning. That way she would have a whole day to spend on Midgard. Belatedly, he realised that he’d forgotten to apply an illusion spell to her before he left, and he wondered if he should collect her immediately after all. But no, her left side could be hidden by clothing and brushing her hair to one side. That should suffice, so long as nobody paid too much attention. And he was sure Jane could come up with a clever excuse to explain her eyes. 

It would be fine. She was making friends, and enjoying freedom that she had never experienced before. She was having fun. 

~~~~~

Hel was having fun. She had spent some time playing with the iPod, with Jane sat next to her reading a notebook. 

Then Darcy had come back from ‘the store’ with loads of amazing things! There were ‘cookies’, which were like the waffles but hard and with small pieces of something called chocolate in. There was milk that tasted of strawberries. There were tiny bricks called ‘Legos’ that could be built into all sorts of things. There were dolls in interesting outfits. There were books with colourful pictures on the covers, so unlike the leather-bound books of Asgard. There was a set of toy animals and some things that she guessed were models of the Midgardian vehicles that Lady Jane had called cars. 

She had played with the toys for a little while, and then Jane had read to her from one of the books, about a boy going to school to learn magic. He’d had to sleep underground, like her. 

She must have fallen asleep, because one minute she was hearing about the boy and his friend exploring their new school, and the next she was alone on the couch, the book was closed on the low table in front of her, and Jane and Darcy were on the other side of the room, looking over papers spread across the large table and talking to each other. 

They looked busy, so while she wanted to hear more of the story, she would have to wait. She reached for the iPod, thinking that she would listen to it quietly and wouldn’t disturb them with her playing. 

Then she saw a girl run past the large windows at the front of the lab and down the street. She was on her feet and at the door before she had thought about it. Jane and Darcy hadn’t looked up; she had taken off her shoes to curl up on the couch, and apart from a tiny clicking sound from the bony toes of her left foot, she made no sound. 

Hesitating, she bit her lip. Was she allowed to go and play with other children? Nobody had said she _couldn’t_ go outside. But they hadn’t said she _could_ , either. Maybe she should ask? But Jane and Darcy looked so busy… 

Would the other children even want to play with her? Jane and Darcy had been nice, but that didn’t mean everyone on Midgard was nice – nice people didn’t steal someone’s work, so there were mean people here. But that girl had looked like she was having so much fun. She just wanted to play… 

Screwing up her courage, she quietly opened the door and slipped out. She’d just take a peek, see what the village looked like in daylight, watch the other children… Just a peek, and then she’d come back. And she’d run away quickly if she saw anyone who looked like those SHIELD people. 

Brushing her hair over one side of her face and clipping it back into place, and pulling the sleeve of her dress down as much as she could over her bony hand, she walked down the street, staying close to the buildings. 

Following the sound of laughter, she peered round the corner. There was the girl she’d seen, and she was with another girl and two boys. They were in a huddle, discussing something. 

She wondered what they were talking about. What did other kids talk about? What did Midgardians talk about? There was a car parked near them, and she was so curious to find out what they were saying… Surely it couldn’t hurt to get closer…? They were so focused on their discussion that they wouldn’t notice her if she was quick enough. 

She stepped out and headed towards the car, but she was only halfway there when the huddle broke apart. 

“OK, so that’s decided-” the blonde girl began, before stopping as she caught sight of Hel, frozen in place out in the open. 

The girl frowned. “Who are you?” 

Hel swallowed nervously, twisting her fingers together behind her back. “My- my name is Hel.” 

The younger girl shrieked, pointing at Hel’s feet. “She’s a dead person!” 

Oh no! She’d forgotten about her foot! She put her hands out, as if to ward off the accusation. “No, no! I-” 

But that only focused their attention on her hand. 

“Are you a zombie?” asked one of the boys. 

“I don’t even know what a zombie is.” 

“Well, do you eat brains?” the boy asked. 

“No. I eat waffles and cookies.” 

“Are you a monster?” 

“I suppose so?” 

“Are you a good monster or a bad monster?” 

“A good monster. If I’m a bad monster then I get sent to bed without any supper.” 

“Does it hurt?” 

“No, it’s fine.” 

“Can I touch it?” 

She nodded, and the boy darted forward, quickly touched her hand, and then scooted back again. He looked frightened, but he burst out with, “That’s so cool!” 

She knew from Lady Darcy that ‘cool’ meant good, and relaxed a little bit. Hesitantly, she asked, “Can I play with you?” 

The children looked at each other. It wasn’t hostile, really, just slightly wary. 

“We could use another person,” the younger girl said. “Tag is better with more people.” 

The older girl, who seemed to be in charge, thought for a moment, and nodded. “OK.” 

She was going to get to play! With other children! This truly was the best day ever! 

~~~~~

Jane groaned, stretching, suddenly realising how stiff she felt. A new equation had popped into her head that seemed to perfectly express some of the Asgardian concepts, and she’d hastily gone to scribble it down and tried to follow it to its conclusion. It should only have taken her a minute, but she’d been so caught up... She looked at the clock. That had been over an hour ago! 

Hopefully Hel wasn’t too bored. She looked over at the couch and froze. She wasn’t there! Frantically she looked around the lab, but there was sign of her. Darcy was slumped at the table next to her, passed out on a pile of papers. Jane shook her frantically. 

“Wha?” 

“I thought you were supposed to be watching her!” 

“Wha? Who?” 

“Hel, Darcy!” 

“What the hell?” 

“No, Hel! The girl we were supposed to be looking after!” 

“Oh shit! That Hel!” Darcy shot upright. 

“Yes! That Hel! I thought you were watching her!” 

“I was! I just closed my eyes for like a second!” She looked around the lab just like Jane had, as if she was just it imagining things and the kid was there after all. “Shit! I haven’t even graduated yet! How have l already fucked up a diplomatic assignment?” 

Jane belatedly realised someone else was missing. “Wait, where the hell is Erik?” 

As if on cue, he walked through the door, carrying a newspaper. Misinterpreting their wide-eyed looks, he waved it at them. “Wanted to see if the local news had anything to say about what’s been going on.” He shook his head, still a little gingerly. “Nothing, not even a hint at an attempted cover-up.” 

“Is Hel with you?” Jane asked, knowing it was a longshot as Erik hadn’t seemed all that comfortable around the girl, but unwilling to give up hope that she might have trailed along with him to the store. 

But Erik blinked in surprise. “She’s not with you?” 

“Obviously not,” snapped Jane, regretting it almost immediately. It was an understandable question, even if it was obvious, and it wasn’t his fault that she’d managed to screw up a simple babysitting job. 

“Maybe she’s with Thor?” Darcy suggested. 

Jane almost smacked herself for not thinking of this sooner. Of course she was with Thor! He was her uncle, after all, and it wasn’t like she’d just be wandering the streets or anything. Panic over! Grinning, almost giddy with relief, she ran outside and clambered up to the roof, Darcy hot on her heels. 

But the expected view of a doting uncle pointing out the sights of Puente Antiguo to his young niece failed to materialise. The roof was empty. 

_The roof was empty._

No Hel. No Thor. 

“Where-“ began Jane, but she was interrupted by screaming from nearby. Children’s screams. 

Looking down into the street, she saw Hel. And Thor. 

Oh. Oh no.


	11. Chapter 11

After playing the chasing game for a while, the boys were called inside, and Hel and the girls played a jumping game with a piece of rope. She found that game hard at first, especially with her leg, but she got a little better with practice. Then the boys came back, carrying a ball.

The ball game had been going for a little while when one of the girls threw the ball a little too hard and it flew off toward Lady Jane’s lab. On the roof she could see Uncle Thor, standing and watching. It was nice of him to be looking out for her.

“I’ll get it!” she shouted, running after it.

But she didn’t reach the ball. Before she could get more than half the distance, Uncle Thor leapt down from the roof and barred her way. He looked angry. Very angry.

She backed away toward her new friends, but he followed her.

There was a shout of, “Hey, mister, leave her alone!” from behind her, and a battered old can hit Uncle Thor in the chest, but he didn’t even seem to notice it.

And then suddenly Lady Jane was there in Uncle Thor’s path.

~~~~~

Jane didn’t even remember getting down from the roof. One minute she was up there, looking down on the horrifying situation unfolding down in the street, and the next she was right there in front of Thor.

“Leave her alone!” she shouted, planting her feet and refusing to budge as he advanced on Hel, not even remotely considering how utterly insane this course of action was.

“Stand aside, Jane Foster. I will slay this creature and complete my quest.”

 _What the hell?_ “No! If you want her, you have to go through me.”

Some small, distant part of her screamed that she was being stupid. She had no chance against him. Even without whatever godly powers he was supposed to have, he was bigger and stronger than her and he obviously knew how to fight. But if she’d ever listened to that voice she’d never have gotten this far in her career - hell, she’d never have gotten into this career in the first place - and she’d be damned if she started listening to it now, whatever the consequences.

She felt something shift, somehow distant but inside her at the same time. A change. A difference. But something that had always been there. Something old, yet new, like a part of her that had lain dormant suddenly waking up.

He tried to step around her, and she moved to block him. He moved to the other side, and she matched him again. His face darkened further and maybe it was her imagination, but she could swear she heard a rumble off in the distance, like thunder approaching. “So be it. If you choose to protect the monster then you leave me no other option but to go though you.”

He raised an arm above his head. Jane half-considered putting her arms up as a sort of protection, but screw that. Not like it would make one bit of difference.

But some instinct made her hold an arm out, and the next second something slammed into her palm. And it was like coming alive for the first time ever.

She felt as if she’d been struck by lightning, but somehow it didn’t hurt. Warmth wrapped around her like a cocoon, and it was if all the strength and power and desire to change the world, all the things she’d always felt within her, all came to the surface in that moment, and transformed her physical self.

She felt herself leaving the ground, cloth and armour wrapping around her and settling into place, replacing the clothes she’d been wearing, as if she was becoming a butterfly, but with the toughness of the cocoon incorporated into the new form, beautiful and deadly. There was nothing in her ears but the roaring of a raging storm.

And then abruptly it ended and all was quiet, and she sank back to the ground, on one knee, but not in a gesture of subservience, but rather the coiled potential of a predator about to leap into action.

The simple shirt and jeans were gone, replaced by elaborate blue armour, with a yellow skirt wrapped around her waist, and a starburst pattern on the breastplate. A helmet sits on her head, though she obviously can’t see what it looks like. The hair hanging over her shoulders is now in thick, messy braids.

She rose to her feet, eyes fixed on Thor.

“Then allow me to offer you another option.” She whirled the hammer round and round, and when she’d built up enough momentum she swung it hard into his face, knocking him flying down the street.

As soon as she had done it, the regrets started. She’d just killed a guy! She was pretty sure, anyway. He wasn’t moving, and she’d definitely heard the crunch of bone as the hammer connected. His skull was totally fractured, if not actually caved in. For a moment she started to panic, wondering if she had really done the right thing...

And then she felt something collide with her legs, and looked down to see Hel hugging her, and she remembered why she’d done this. There was still guilt there, hovering around the edges, but for now she could push it aside.

She turned, crouching down to return the hug. “Are you OK?”

There was a sniffle. “Yes. It was scary but you were here. Thank you for saving me.”

”You’re welcome.”

Then suddenly there was a rush of power, and she looked over to where Thor had landed and saw him getting to his feet. His arm reached out to her, palm open, but whatever he expected clearly wasn’t happening, and he frowned at her, and then back to his hand, and then back to her again, his expression transforming from baffled puzzlement into confusion into rage.

He shouted something up at the sky, and there was a flash in response, and she looked up to see familiar lights in the sky, and she knew all too well now what they mean, what was coming.

The phenomenon that she now knew as the Bifrost slammed into the street.

For a moment she could only stand and look in awe at this breathtaking spectacle. A wormhole opening up right there in front of her, the very thing she’d devoted years of her life to, causing so many of her colleagues to brand her as crazy.

Well who’s crazy now, huh, bitches?

And then anger joined the mix as she realised that, as it’s centred on Thor, it must be taking him away, and she’ll be damned if she’s letting him get away this easily. She should be glad he’s leaving, but there was the problem of what bullshit he’ll come out with about his time here and whether he’ll come back with reinforcements.

Before she could think any further, she dove in to the maelstrom and felt herself getting pulled upward. There was an amazing feeling of shooting forward, flying. She has a moment where she remembers something Thor had said, about how he’d fly out of the SHIELD camp, and wonders if that means she can fly now too.

And then her feet touched the ground and the light faded, and an amazing sight met her eyes.

“Dr Foster, welcome to Asgard.”

She was in a large domed space made of gold. Before her stretched a long walkway made of what looked like glass that shimmered with all the colours of the rainbow, extending over a sea, at the end of which was a fantastical city of impossible buildings that shone gold in the sunlight.

She was so enraptured by the amazing sight in front of her – a whole new, impossible world, with new stars and constellations that she itched to observe and record – that even with the greeting she’d just received it took her several seconds to realise she and Thor were not alone.

The man who had spoken stands in the middle of the room, on a large platform, holding a sword and wearing gleaming golden armour. This must be Heimdall, she thought, remembering what Loki had told her about the Bifrost.

The questions she wants to ask him do not get answered, however, as Thor demanded to know what was going on. She could sense new strength in him. Even as a supposedly-powerless human he’d seemed pretty strong to her. But now she could see how much... less... he’d been.

“Your father has just awoken from the Odinsleep, and has restored your powers in your moment of need.

“But I cannot summon Mjolnir!”

“Because he can’t deem you worthy,” she declared, speaking aloud the thought that had just occurred to her. “It’s not up to him.”

As she was trying to figure out what to do next, she heard galloping hoofbeats, and the next thing she knows Loki is running in through the entrance, out of breath and looking frantic.

“Thor! They said you’d returned-“ he broke off, catching sight of the scene in front of him. His eyes widened as he looked between them, noting Thor’s returned powers and Jane’s new outfit and possession of Mjolnir. “Jane! What’s going on?”

Jane pointed at Thor with the hammer. “He tried to murder Hel!”

Now it’s Loki’s face that darkens in rage. “You tried to murder my daughter!?”

“Loki, you can’t see that thing as a child! It is a monster!”

Loki laughed bitterly. “And am l not too a monster?”

“What do you mean? Of course not! Prone to mischief, yes, and misguided in your affections to such a creature, but Loki you are my brother.”

“I’m not your brother. l never was.”

“Loki, what do you mean? How are we not brothers?”

“Because I’m a Jotun foundling, Thor. A son of Laufey, picked up by Odin as a spoil of war.”

Thor reeled as if struck by a physical blow. “No! It cannot be!”

“Oh but it is.” Loki stalked forward, looking almost manic. “I’m no more your brother than Hogun is.”

Thor was still looking stunned, but it’s clear he’s trying to piece together what he’s hearing. “So it’s been a lie this whole time.”

“Yes.”

Thor frowned. “I knew there must be something going on. Visiting Jotunheim to negotiate with those beasts, bringing your monstrous get into the palace, and only someone skilled in magic could have let the Frost Giants into the Vault. How deep does this go? How long have you been plotting our downfall?”

“It’s not-“ Loki began.

“You say we’re not brothers? So be it, Loki Laufeyson.”

Thor lunges at him, and Loki dodges, producing daggers from thin air and slashing at his attacker. One of them connects, slashing across an arm, but Thor barely seems to notice and lashes out with a fist, forcing Loki to duck and dodge away again. Suddenly multiple Lokis appear, surrounding Thor. He blunders into them, punching out until he connects with the real Loki, knocking him back and causing the illusions to disappear.

Jane is frozen with indecision, unable to do anything but watch. She feels like she should probably intervene, but should she really? When Thor had tried to kill Loki’s daughter? And how? They’re too close to each other and moving too fast, and this power is so new to her, she’s still learning what she can do (earlier, she’d only meant to knock Thor back a little, not send him flying) and she doesn’t want to hurt Loki. And there’s also the fact that these are brothers, fighting over a shared history and a fractured relationship she can barely begin to understand.

Heimdall is also standing there, looking on impassively, and her frustration at feeling helpless even with all this power she feels coursing through her, finds a target. He knows them better than she does, must have a better understanding of how to fix this. “Why are you just standing there? Can’t you do something?”

He simply stares at her. “It is not for l to settle this. It is for the Allfather to judge.”

“Then maybe you should, I don’t know, go get him?”

She doesn’t expect him to actually listen, but he turns and heads out of the chamber, mounting the horse that Loki had ridden to get here and riding off down the bridge.

All the same, she still dances around the edge of the fight, seeking any opportunity, any kind of opening, to break it up, or to help Loki, or to just do something, damnit. It looks to be a long bridge and it seems like Heimdall is riding that horse at more of a canter than a gallop to her. Who knows how long he’ll take to fetch backup? Or even if backup will show up?

She doesn’t see how it happens – she’s turned away just for a moment to check on Heimdall’s progress, when there’s a thud and Loki lands near her, hitting the wall pretty hard.

“Loki!” she cries, running over and taking him in her arms. “Are you OK?”

He groans, picking himself up. “I’m fine, thank you for your concern.”

They turn to see Thor walking up to the central platform, a determined look on his face. He grabs hold of the sword embedded in it, and forces it downwards, hard. Another flash of light as the Bifrost opens, and at first she thinks he’s running away, but he steps back, laughing, before turning and walking past them to head down the bridge.

“If I have to destroy a Realm to get rid of that monster, then so be it.” He shouts over his shoulder as be passes. “This will surely prove my worth to father.”

Jane runs forward knowing that this wasn’t good without knowing why, Loki right behind her. “What has he done?”

The light is almost blinding as they both jump onto the platform.

“The Bifrost is capable of sending matter across the universe. It’s only designed to stay on long enough to deposit or retrieve the subject at or from the destination point. Any longer and it just keeps on going _through_ anything in its path!”

She attempts to pull the sword out, but it won’t budge an inch. Loki tries, but has no better luck than she’d had. They both tried together, to similarly lacklustre effect – not helped by the fact that, by its nature, a sword doesn’t really have a lot of room to grip. Kind of the opposite, really.

“I don’t know how he’s managed it but it’s stuck in there.”

The light is getting too much, and they’re forced to back away, out of the Bifrost chamber and onto the bridge. Behind her she can hear Thor shouting, “You can’t stop it. There’s nothing you can do!”

She looks down at the hammer in her hands. Such a powerful tool and yet it’s useless here. It’d be perfect for bashing the sword in further, but she needs to do the exact opposite! Even trying to hit upwards against the crossguards would probably just bend it and make things even worse.

All it is good for is hitting things.

And then she looks down at the fragile-looking bridge she stood upon, and how there seems to be no other support for the gold dome, which hangs out over space (at any other time she’d be fascinated by this, but she has bigger concerns right now) and she has an idea.

She raises the hammer above her head and brings it down on the bridge. And then again. And again. And again. She can hear Thor somewhere behind her, roaring, but she ignores him, trusting Loki to keep him back.

She hits it again, and feels something give, and on the next blow a crack forms and starts to snake across the bridge, and then she strikes it a final time, putting all her strength behind it, and the bridge shatters.

With a creak and a groan, the end of the bridge falls away, taking the Bifrost chamber with it. Standing, she watches as it falls, but then a bellow and footsteps pull her attention away. She’d forgotten about Thor.

He runs at her and she stumbles, nearly going over the edge, but Loki grabs her and pulls her back.

Thor isn’t so lucky, his momentum carrying him too far to be able to pull back in time. He teeters on the brink for a moment, before going over. Frantically he flails his arms and somehow manages to grab onto the edge, even though the jagged shards are obviously cutting his hands.

Loki crouches down and reaches out. “Grab my hand.”

Thor looks suspicious. “Brother, I swear to you, we have our differences, but I don’t want you dead. Please!”

For a moment it looks like Thor’s stubbornness might win out and he will refuse. But then he removes a bloodied hand from the broken edge and reaches out to taken Loki’s offered hand, and Jane sighs with relief.

And then there’s the thundering sound of hooves coming down the bridge and she turns to see what can only be Odin, riding a horse with way too many legs. The bridge shakes with the mighty animal’s weight as it gets closer, and seeing the problem, she turns to help pull Thor up.

But his hand, slick with blood, slips on the shaking bridge and he falls as Jane and Loki both reach futilely out to him.

He falls away, looking at them the whole time, until he’s a distant speck among the stars.

They’re both quiet for a moment, and then they turn around to stare at Odin, who has gotten down from his insane spider-horse and is walking toward them looking angry.

Loki grabs her by the hand. “Let’s get out of here.”

She allows him to lead her, trusting that he has a plan.

She doesn’t expect him to leap off the end of the bridge, dragging her along with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *evil laugh* Yes, even on the last 'proper' chapter, I'm throwing in a cliffhanger!
> 
> For reference, I'm imagining Jane's armour as looking like the [alternate universe Dazzler Thor](http://sinistercinnamon.tumblr.com/post/170455282921/theycallmejane-dazzlerthor-is-awesome-needs) from _A-Force_ because it's just way better  & also completely lacking in boobplate.
> 
> Also do you have any idea how difficult it was to resist making a 'That's what she said' joke in that scene where the sword is stuck in the Bifrost? _Do you?_


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here ya go, folks - the epilogue! Short & hopefully sweet.
> 
> Fun fact: I wrote most of this on my phone during the ad reel of my 12th _Last Jedi_ screening.

_ ~epilogue~ _

Loki sat at the table in the middle of the lab, carefully writing. Each word was painful to write, but also freeing, and he felt lighter as the pen scratched across the paper. A cool breeze blew in from the shattered windows.

Alongside him Jane was writing herself, on one of the electronic devices that SHIELD had been persuaded to return (after a few threatening swings of a hammer and a near-miss of a lightning strike). In her case it was a missive enquiring about new lodgings for her further research. Agent Coulson had said that SHIELD would be happy for her to continue her research, implying that they would handle everything, but it seemed that she was unwilling to trust their intentions. Selvig had disappeared soon after, with a hasty goodbye that pointed to him having received a similar offer and being less inclined to say no.

Over on the couch Darcy sat engrossed in her communications device, likely reading the latest comments on the video she’d posted showing the whole incident. SHIELD were not happy about that. Not at all. Hel was curled up asleep beside her, using Darcy’s lap as a pillow. She’d not slept at all the previous night, so terrified by yesterday’s events – at having been attacked by Thor, Jane being taken by the Bifrost, and then by the Bifrost smashing into the town and allowed to run wild.

Thankfully, it hadn’t been as bad as he and Jane had feared as they’d hurriedly fled down one of the hidden pathways to Midgard. Plenty of property damage, but nobody had died. As loath as he was to admit it, they had SHIELD’s obsession with secrecy to thank for that, as the moment that Jane and Thor had left they’d immediately set about evacuating and cordoning off the area in an attempt to prevent word spreading.

So when the Bifrost had struck, the only people close to the site were some SHIELD agents, as well as Hel, Darcy, and Erik, who had refused to leave until they knew Jane was safe (though in Darcy’s case it was also because she was using the lab’s internet connection to upload the evidence that SHIELD were trying to erase), all of whom knew well enough to get out of the way.

Judging that he’d said all he needed – though not necessarily all he wanted to – he signed his name and put the pen down. Folding the sheet of paper up, he placed it in the envelope that Darcy had been kind enough to fetch for him, when he’d told of his intentions, and wrote the names of the two recipients.

He almost added a third name, but stopped himself just in time.

When he had time, he would slip back down the hidden pathways, and leave it where he knew it would be found and read. Whether they would accept what he had written, however, was not something that he could do anything about.

He sat for a moment, feeling drained and alone now that he’d said his piece. Yesterday he’d been King of Asgard, today he was nobody, with nothing.

Suddenly he felt arms wrap around him. Jane.

“You doing OK?”

“I suppose I shall manage. I've cast aside my old life, and must now make a new one. But I have Hel, so I suppose I am not entirely alone.”

“You have me too.”

Jane’s phone buzzed to indicate it had received a message.

Darcy: _And me_

They looked over to her, and she pointed at Hel to indicate her reasons for not wanting to shout across the room.

_Hey btw now yr a superhero I call dibs on being yr sidekick_

Jane glared across the room at her intern.

Just then, one of the large black vehicles favoured by the agency drew up outside – quietly, this time, Loki having magnanimously undone his enchantment when they agreed to return what they’d taken from Jane.

The man who emerges is not Agent Coulson however, nor any of the other agents that Loki has observed so far. He’s tall, bald and dark-skinned, wearing an eyepatch and a long leather coat that swirls behind him like a cape as he walks.

He marches in with a confident air that speaks of leadership and of being more than capable of defending himself against any threats.

Jane watches him approach, frowning. “Who the hell are you, and what do you want?”

If the man is offended by her tone, then he doesn’t show it.

“I am Director Fury, and I’m here to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, oops. I think I accidentally created a 'verse here. When - or even if - it will be continued, I have no idea, because I have a fuckload of rabid plotbunnies infesting a OneNote notebook & a couple of half-written fics on the go, so... *shrugs*
> 
>  
> 
> I am on Tumblr [here](http://sinistercinnamon.tumblr.com/), though fair warning it's like 20% Lokane/Marvel & 80% Reylo/Star Wars right now.


End file.
